Kopa's Adventures in The Wild
by PerkyGoth14
Summary: Kopa is being told about his destiny to become the newest Lion King. However, before he can learn anything when he wanders around the Pridelands, he is kidnapped by two humans who force him to live in a zoo. Will Akito, Estelle, and the others be able to get him out of the zoo and send him back home with the help of his new friend, a fellow lion cub named Ryan who wants to be wild?
1. Chapter 1

In the Pridelands, it was a very sleepy evening, the sun was not yet shining, but there was a cub that was already awake and full of energy. He then went into the cave of the rock he lived in with the other lions and lionesses, he then rushed inside the cave and came to his slumbering parents who were the new royals of the jungle.

"Come on, Dad, wake up!" the cub urged his father, even tugging on his ear. "Dad? DAD!"

"Boy, does this bring back memories." the adult male lion chuckled in his sleep.

"You better get up Simba or else he'll never stop." The adult female lioness said in her sleep.

"I know, I know..." the lion chuckled, then yawned a little. "Okay, I'm up..."

"You promised..." the cub reminded his father.

The adult male lion got up with a small stretch and led his cub out as the sun was slowly coming up and waking up the others in the jungle.

"Come on, the sun's almost up!" The lion cub told his father.

"Okay, Kopa, okay, I'm coming, I'm coming." Simba chuckled.

"He is so your son." the lioness chuckled to her mate.

Simba gave her a small smirk and came out to the front with his son and going to tell him what his father told him when he was Kopa's age. "Now, Kopa, this was something my father taught me when I was about your age," he gently told the cub. "Everything the light touches is our kingdom. A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Kopa, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king."

"And this will all be mine?" Kopa asked.

"Everything the light touches." Simba informed.

Kopa smiled and agreed, then looked further to see a shadowy place. "What about that spot, Dad?"

"That's the Outlands, Kopa, you must never go there." Simba warned.

"But why?" Kopa asked. "And I thought the king could do whatever he wants."

"Believe me, I used to think that too, but there's more to being king than just getting your way all the time." Simba clarified.

"There's more?" Kopa sounded delighted.

"There he goes, our new future king, it's just exciting just thinking about it!" a warthog beamed.

"You got that right, pal, it'll just be like the old days!" the meerkat agreed. "It'll be you, me, and the little guy!"

* * *

"Hey, Timon, hey, Pumbaa." Kopa smiled as soon as he saw the two animals that were best friends with his father.

"Hey, kid!" Timon smiled to him.

"Good morning," Pumbaa added with a warm smile. "How's it feel knowing you'll be king of the jungle someday?"

"Amazing!" Kopa smiled before going off on his own.

"Should we go with him?" Pumbaa was worried.

"Ah, let him explore..." Timon insisted.

* * *

The other lionesses smiled to Kopa as he went off and admired him.

"Oh, look at how much you've grown." Sarabi praised her grandson.

"Thank you, Grandma." Kopa smiled as he continued to go on.

Sarabi smiled. Kopa laughed with endless joy, remembering his father's warnings to stay out of the Outlands. There was a rather evil lioness with blood red eyes glaring, but she kept herself hidden away in case anyone would see her. And where she saw Kopa running around, care free, but then she saw a vehicle driving by and found this her opportunity to get rid of the son of Simba because when there was a vehicle that meant humans that could be either travelers or for her luck, poachers.

Kopa laughed, having a very happy and peaceful morning, chasing a butterfly playfully. He then looked around as he heard a door shut and he wondered that the noise could had been or what happened. "What was that?" he asked himself, looking around.

"Hey, look over there." A male voice said.

"Looks like that little guy could make us some big bucks." A second male voice said.

"How?" The first male voice asked.

"By selling it, also keep your voice down." The second male voice whispered.

The first male saluted and kept quiet. "Wonder where its parents are."

"Doesn't matter, he'll just be easier the catch." the second male replied.

Kopa watched as the butterfly landed on his nose, making his eyes cross, he then laughed in mild amusement.

"And besides, he's focused on that butterfly, he'll be even more easier to catch." The second male whispered.

"Let's go then." the first male suggested.

The evil lioness seemed to chuckle darkly at this, still keeping her distance.

Kopa smiled, but frowned once the butterfly flew away. "Hey, come on!"

"Okay now!" The second male told his partner.

Kopa was watching the butterfly leave, but then saw something he had never seen before: a human being. "What the!?" he backed up from the first male. "Get away from me, I'm the future king! You can't do this to-"

The male came closer, all he heard were stray growls and roars, but not as threatening as an adult lion's roar would be. "Here, kitty, kitty..." he then grabbed Kopa. "Now, let's take you to a nice and much better home than this old jungle, huh?"

But Kopa didn't like that one bit and decided to bite human so he could get free.

"Ow!" The first male winced out of pain, letting the lion cub go.

This was Kopa's chance to get away.

"Must I do the thinking around here?!" The second male groaned before getting out a net gun.

"That really hurt..." the first male pouted like a baby.

"Oh, for the love of!" the second male groaned.

* * *

Kopa kept running as fast as he could back to the safety of Pride Rock. But before he could get back to Pride Rock, he was caught in a net, unfortunately for the two humans that caught him, they were now only ten feet away from Pride Rock.

"Help! Mom! Dad! Grandma! Somebody! Anybody!" Kopa cried out.

The human males then grabbed Kopa and went to take him away.

"HEEEEEELLLLLPPPP!" Kopa yelled out as he was kidnapped, he tried to get out of the net, but it was no use.

* * *

Luckily for him, Sarabi was the first to hear his cries for help and decided to go and attack the two men and where Simba followed after her.

"What's happened?" Simba asked his mother.

"Two men have taken Kopa!" Sarabi alerted her son. "I don't know where they're going, but it's not going to be far!" she then growled, looking very aggressive.

"Then we better go and stop them from taking him away." Simba said.

They both then ran off and to try to stop the two humans from taking Kopa away to wherever they were going to take him.

Kopa gave up trying to free himself, he just looked very unhappy that he was taken away from his family. Didn't these humans care that he was taken right away from the only home he's ever known? He then smiled as soon as he saw his father and grandmother coming to his rescue.

"Hang on, Kopa, we're coming!" Simba called.

* * *

One of the men looked to the rear view window and saw the two other lions coming. "Uh, we got company." he told his colleague.

"Oh, great." The second man groaned.

"The lion must be his father, but that lioness looks a little too old to be his mother." The first man said before seeing his partner bringing out a loaded gun.

Sarabi looked overwhelmed by the gun and had stopped running. "Simba, look out!" she warned her son. She was then silent with widened eyes as the sound of the gunshot was heard and the bullet hit her in the heart. "Oh... My..."

"Mother!" Simba stopped, going to his mother's side. "Mom... A-Are you okay?"

"S-Simba, w-watch out for the gun, it's very dangerous when a human uses it." Sarabi said, still clinging to life.

Simba nodded, he was very worried for his mother, but he was more worried about Kopa since the cub was his son after all and kept running after the vehicle. "I'll teach you to cubnap my **BOY!** "

"Dang it! Drive, you idiot, before he catches up to us!" The second man told his partner.

The first male kept driving, trying to avoid Simba.

"Dad, help me!" Kopa cried.

"Kopa!" Simba cried back while still running after the vehicle.

The vehicle was driving faster.

Simba kept trying to keep up, but he had to stop to catch his breath. He could only watch the vehicle get further and further away and it looked like he wouldn't be able to get his son back. "Kopa..." he whispered, hanging his head sadly.

* * *

"Daddy! NO!" Kopa cried out of sadness.

"Don't worry, little guy, you're going to a much better place." the first male chuckled as he continued to drive.

"Yes, loads better than the jungle, you'll see!" the second male agreed.

Kopa sniffled, he hunched himself down and started to cry, fearing he would never see his family ever again.

"Hey, you know, I think he's going to miss this place." The first man said after hearing the lion cub sounding like he was crying.

"Oh, please, it's an animal, as soon as we get this little guy sold to a zoo, we'll make some money." The second man said.

"I'm just trying to make it feel better..." the first male said.

"It's an animal, all they care about is whether if they'll eat again!" the second male scoffed.

"What?!" Kopa asked out of rage. "I care more about my friends and family than food!"

"Silence!" the second male growled, he then shot Kopa with a tiny gun.

Kopa winced, he then looked to his arm to see a dart with a feather attached to it, and he suddenly felt sleepy and passed out, going into a very deep sleep.

"You know what, I'll take him to the zoo myself," The first man said before stepping on the brakes. "Get out."

The second man looked to him. "What? Why!?"

"OUT!" the first man demanded.

The second man shrugged and got out of the car as told. The first man then drove off, leaving his cold-hearted partner in the Savanna to get eaten.

"Don't worry, little guy, I'm going to send you to a zoo that takes good care of their animals and I know just the lion who will be a good father figure for you, he has a son too." The man said.

Kopa did not respond, but at least this man was more gentle and kinder than his 'friend' was. He just wondered what he was going to get himself into and no longer live in the Pridelands to restore his family name and title.

The man was able to get the young lion cub to an airport and traveled with him so he would get him to the zoo he was thinking of. Kopa was still knocked out, but eventually woke up, looking around. He freaked out a little to see more humans as he was in a cage.

"Sorry, little guy, as soon as you wake up, you're gonna have a whole new life, you'll thank me later." the man smiled, giving Kopa a sleeping pill to knock him out during the flight like passengers did with their dogs.

Luckily the flight wouldn't take long as did the sleeping pill and where this was the start of an adventure or two. Kopa fell asleep again and would wake up in a whole new world. The plane was then taking off and Kopa was being sent to a zoo.


	2. Chapter 2

The Pridelands were devastated, they had lost two members: Kopa and Sarabi.

"Simba, I'm so sorry..." Nala cooed to her mate after the day they had.

"I should have stopped them when I had then chance." Simba groaned out of frustration, thinking he was to blame.

Nala nuzzled against him to comfort him.

"It's all my fault..." Simba was in a lot of pain.

"Don't beat yourself up..." Nala soothed.

"But it is, if I had been a better father, Kopa wouldn't have gone off on his own without anyone watching over him." Simba said.

"I knew we shoulda kept an eye on him." Timon folded his arms. "Why didn't you let me, Pumbaa!?"

"But you said to let him explore!" Pumbaa retorted.

Timon's eyes widened, that was true, but he couldn't let himself take blame. "Yeah, but you could've talked me out of it!"

"Oh, so this now my fault?!" Pumbaa asked him.

"Guys, stop it, it's no one's fault!" Nala scolded the meerkat and warthog.

"No, just mine..." Simba sighed as he walked off and started to sulk.

The others called for him, but he just ignored them and felt extremely depressed for losing his only son out there.

* * *

While this was all going on in the Pridelands, the plane was making it's way to it's destination which for it's passengers wasn't going to be any longer. The kinder man was excited about this experience and was hoping Kopa felt the same way. Too bad he couldn't speak Lion. The moment the plane landed, the kinder man took the lion cub to the zoo, thinking that this would be the perfect place for him. Kopa was still miserable, but he did not dare fight back.

"Don't worry, buddy, we're almost there..." the man soothed as he carried the cage delicately.

"Can I help you, sir?" A man in a zoo uniform asked.

"Yes, I brought in a lion cub who is in need of a new home." the man informed.

The other man looked to Kopa as he was still knocked out, but he was very unhappy in his sleep. "I'm sure I know two new friends who could keep him company."

"Oh, that's great, could you make sure that he is placed in with Samson and his son?" The man asked.

"That was the plan, pleasure doing business with ya." the man in the uniform nodded.

"You're gonna be okay, buddy, just you wait and see..." the man whispered to Kopa. "I know you can't hear me right now, but trust me, you're gonna have brand new adventures and love this a lot better than the wild."

The man couldn't have been more both right and wrong, he was right that Kopa would have adventures, but he was wrong that Kopa would love this better than the wild. The man took his pay from the zoo employee who then went to put Kopa into his new home. The other animals watched, very curious and bewildered about the new lion in town. A grey squirrel was picking a flower out of the ground and he even saw what was going on.

* * *

"Alright, little guy, enjoy your time here." The man said, letting the lion cub out of the cage and placing him in the lion preserve before leaving to go back to his station.

As soon as the man was gone, Kopa flinched, and shot up. "DAAAAD!" he looked around, panting a little, very out of breath, this did not look familiar to him at all. "D-Dad...? Mom...? Grandma Sarabi...? Anyone!? Timon, Pumbaa!?" he then ran around, trying to look for his family, but didn't find anyone.

Nothing he saw looked familiar.

"Where... Where am I?" Kopa asked.

"Are you okay, kid?" a female voice came behind him.

Kopa yelped and turned to see a giraffe. "Um... Uhh... Not really... I feel lost... Just... Where am I and how can I get back to Pride Rock?"

"Pride Rock?" the giraffe asked. "Where's that?"

"Are you okay, kid?" a female voice came behind him.

"You know, in the Savanna AKA Africa, now where am I?" Kopa asked.

"Oh, my boy, this isn't Africa or the Savanna." the giraffe told him.

"I-It's not?" Kopa's eyes widened. "Then... Where am I?"

"You're in a zoo, well to be more precise, one of the zoos in New York City." The giraffe said.

"A zoo?" Kopa did not know what that word meant.

"You have much to learn, young one," the giraffe told him. "I hope you like it here, it's absolutely wonderful!"

"But... Wh-What about my family!?" Kopa cried. "I-I can't stay here, my family will miss me and I'll miss them!"

"Oh, dear... Well, maybe it won't be so much of a wonderful experience for you." The giraffe said.

"I just wanna go home..." Kopa grew emotional. "Please..."

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry..." the giraffe told him. "It's not my place to tell the humans to bring you back home... Maybe you'll learn to like it here... Besides, Samson and Ryan will have some company after the passing of Galena."

Kopa glanced at the giraffe. "Who?"

"Samson and Ryan," the giraffe repeated the names. "They're lions just like you and they'll help you feel adjusted maybe."

"Yeah, I guess." Kopa said, still feeling sad that he wasn't home.

"I'm sorry, dear, just remember, if you wanna talk, just call for Bridget." the giraffe gave her name.

"Kopa..." the cub gave his name.

Bridget then went off to frolic among her own exhibit.

Kopa sighed, lowering himself on the ground, and sniffled, feeling incredibly homesick. "This place will never be home..." he whispered sadly.

* * *

From behind a tree was a lion cub who seemed to be slightly older than Kopa. Kopa had his eyes shut, he was really unhappy right now.

The other lion cub came to his side. "Um... H-Hi..." he greeted, sounding a little nervous at first.

"Huh?" Kopa said confused, not expecting anyone to come over. "Oh, hello, you must be, uh, Ryan, right?"

"That's me," the cub confirmed. "You're new here, huh?"

"You got that right..." Kopa sighed, he was still a little unhappy about his new home. "Sorry... I'm just feeling homesick."

Ryan tilted his head, not knowing his sickness. "Was it something you ate?"

"No, no, homesick just means I'm missing my home, it's where I was born and raised." Kopa frowned.

"Oh..." Ryan sort of understood now. "Sorry to hear that..."

Kopa sighed, feeling more miserable and covered his face with his paws. "I shouldn't have gone out without Timon and Pumbaa!"

"Friends of yours?" Ryan guessed.

"Yeah, they knew my dad since he was a cub." Kopa explained.

"Wow, well, where are you from?" Ryan asked.

"Pride Rock, it's in Africa." Kopa explained. "Aren't you from the jungle too?"

"Nope, unfortunately, I've been in the zoo practically my whole life, but don't worry I think I know how we can get to the wild." Ryan smiled.

That won over Kopa and made his eyes light up. "Y-Yeah?"

"Yeah, all we have to do is get into the green boxes, but we'll first need to get my dad on board." Ryan said.

"And how do we do that?" Kopa asked.

"By letting him tell us one of his amazing stories," Ryan smiled. "And then when the moment is right, we tell him about the green boxes and tada, we're going to the wild."

"Wow, thanks, Ryan!" Kopa smiled to his new friend. "Oh, and I thought I was gonna be trapped in this place forever. Um... What exactly do you do here all day long?"

"Where do I start?" Ryan said before telling him everything everyone in the zoo did while the humans were there.

Kopa hung onto every word, trying to absorb it all. Hopefully he could make the most of it before he would escape back to the wild with Ryan.

"After it's night time, we're all clear." Ryan said.

"Check." Kopa smirked in determination.

Ryan laughed in excitement.

"So, where's your dad?" Kopa asked.

"Probably resting up..." Ryan glanced back to where he and his father usually slept after closing/dinner time. "He's an old lion, what can ya do?"

They then heard someone waking up, telling them that Samson was finally waking up.

"Oh, there he is..." Ryan laughed a little.

* * *

A different adult male lion yawned and stretched, then came out to see the two cubs. "Ryan, who is your friend?"

"This is Kopa," Ryan introduced. "He's from Pride Rock in the Savanna."

"Hello, sir." Kopa said.

"Kopa..." Samson repeated the name. "So, you're an African lion..."

"Yes, sir, I just got here today..." Kopa explained, though, that was obvious enough. "It's my first time in a zoo."

"Well, my name is Samson and I can already you that you'll love living here." Samson smiled.

"Um... Great..." Kopa forced a smile. "I guess we're Kings of the Zoo then, right?"

"Yep." Samson smiled.

They then heard the zoo being opened.

"Oh, time to get into position." Ryan noted.

"Position?" Kopa asked.

"Yeah, the humans are comin'!" Ryan sounded urgent.

"Ohh." Kopa said.

"This will be a perfect time for one of Dad's Samson of the Wild stories." Ryan smiled.

"Yeah, but is he as brave as _my_ dad?" Kopa playfully smirked and laughed to show he was joking and not making fun of Ryan's dad, but he believed his dad was the bravest lion there ever was.

"Oh, he sure is." Ryan said, telling him each story his dad had ever told him.

"Hmm..." Kopa smirked, but he went with Ryan. He still deeply missed his parents and the others back at Pride Rock, but he guessed this would have to do until Ryan's plan would be set into motion.

"And those are everything Dad used to do in the wild," Ryan told him. "We'll have to see what Dad tells us today."

"Gotcha." Kopa nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

People were slowly coming in to see the zoo and meet the animals. It was always a fun past time, especially for the children. Speaking of families with children, there were two familiar families coming in today to visit the New York Zoo right now. And they were the Forte family and the Fudo family.

"I wanna see the lions!" Akito smiled.

"Me too!" Estelle smiled.

"Oh, my." Felicity sounded nervous at first.

"Well, lions are the most popular..." Cherry noted, then looked to her friends. "What do you guys think?"

"Well..." Mo drawled out.

"Please." Akito, Estelle, and Vincent begged.

"It's all right with me." Mo confirmed.

The Fudo siblings cheered and rushed off.

"Just make sure we go with you!" Mo then added quickly. "You kids are growing up, but you still need supervision."

The kids groaned slightly, but went along with it.

* * *

Jenny and Eloise were also visiting the zoo, only with Winston and Bill from the Plaza and there was a younger adult woman with them. They were checking out the seals right now.

"It's so great to understand animals." Jenny smiled.

"I'll say!" Eloise beamed, she then barked like a seal.

The seal then barked back to her.

"What did you say to her?" Bill chuckled.

"I just invited her over to Palm Court for some tea, but she said she'd 'rawther' stay here and eat fish." Eloise translated.

This made the two adults laugh, thinking Eloise just had an overactive imagination.

* * *

Back in the lion exhibit, Samson preprared to tell Ryan and Kopa one of his stories.

"So, what story are you gonna tell today, sir?" Kopa asked Samson.

"There I was, facing one of the meanest leopards in the Serengeti and-" Samson started.

"You roared so loud, his spots flew clean off," Ryan finished for his father. "Dad, I've heard this like a billion times, and it's too repetitive for Kopa to learn."

"Do you know the one where I made the laughing hyenas-" Samson started a new story.

"Cry?" Ryan finished that one as well. "Yep."

"The croc attack?" Samson offered.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Dad..."

"Okay, think." Samson said to himself, trying to think of a new story to tell.

"Yeah, you do that." Ryan chuckled.

Kopa chuckled himself.

"Alright, Smart Guy," Samson smirked slightly. "Here's one I know you haven't heard. It all started in the little place I like to call... the wild."

"The wild..." Kopa whispered, thinking of home again, but he was really interested in hearing the story now.

Ryan actually did not interrupt.

"They were the fastest wildebeests on the Savanna," Samson narrated. "We're talking fast. All the other lions had given up the hunt hours ago, except your old man. Fortunately, I knew a short cut. I thought I had 'em. Until the dust cleared. Classic wildebeest trap."

 _'Wildebeest trap? But the wildebeest in Africa never did that, they just simply stampeded or ate grass. These wildebeest he faced must have been evil.'_ Kopa thought to himself.

"So, what did you do next?" Ryan asked eagerly.

"What did I do?" Samson smirked.

"Yeah!" Ryan encouraged.

"That's when I gave them the roar." Samson replied.

"Ooh, the roar." Kopa said, sounding interested.

"That's it?" Ryan scoffed slightly.

"That can't be it." Kopa added in.

"Hold on a sec," Samson told the cubs. "I only THOUGHT it was over. But they had a secret weapon. He was the biggest wildebeest I've ever seen."

"How tall?" Kopa asked.

"He was fourteen feet tall!" Samson exclaimed.

"Fourteen?" Ryan asked.

"I mean 1401 feet tall." Samson said.

"Cool." Ryan smiled.

 _'How did Dad not notice a 1401 tall wildebeest?'_ Kopa thought to himself.

"And he had two... No, four of the biggest horns I'd ever seen!" Samson continued.

"Whoa!" Ryan was really captivated by this story.

"His breath was red hot!" Samson continued, then paused a moment. "I mean, green. And he hated the environment. To pull this off, I knew I was gonna have to dig deep, deeper than I ever had before. So I swallowed my fear, sucked in the biggest breath I could..."

"Dad, I'm ready." Ryan said.

"You got it?" Samson asked.

"I got it." Ryan replied.

"Well, let him have it!" Samson encouraged. "ROAR, SON!"

Ryan then let out the best roar he could, but it sounded more like a strangled house cat than a roar from a mighty jungle predator.

"Ooh, that didn't go so well..." Kopa cringed at Ryan's attempt of a roar.

All the kids, except for the Fudo siblings and the Forte siblings, started to laugh, thinking that Ryan's roar sounded like a strangled cat. This caused for Kopa to become angry with them all and he began to show his claws, wanting to make them stop laughing at his new friend. Samson was also angry, so he roared at the crowd as well. However, the crowd then cheered and took his picture, making him pose and look like the star of his own show.

"Story of my life..." Ryan muttered. "Your roar stops a herd of wildebeests. Mine makes the babies laugh."

"Well, it was, um, interesting." Kopa said.

Samson tried to comfort Ryan while Kopa came to meet the people.

* * *

"I don't recognize that one, Bill." Eloise told the Plaza Hotel employee she was close friends with.

"Neither do I." Bill said.

"The poor thing looks like it's not used to this place." Jenny said.

Kopa came up to the kids.

Felicity stepped back slightly, she was a little nervous of the cub coming up close, but she gave a small smile. "You are seeming familiar..."

"He looks just like Kopa." Akito said.

Kopa turned his head and blinked.

"Kopa... Is that your name?" Estelle wondered if this was coincidence or fate.

"Yeah, it is!" Kopa said to them.

"Kids, be careful up close the animals." Cherry warned.

"Wait, if your name is Kopa, then that must mean..." Vincent said.

Kopa looked at the Fudo siblings and recognized them as well as Felicity. "You guys..." he whispered. Kopa smiled to them, then saw Ryan looked very depressed, so he looked back to the human kids. "Um, I'll be right back..." he rushed off to join his new friend and hopefully cheer him up.

"I wonder why Kopa's in the zoo?" Akito scratched his head.

"Kopa?" Eloise and Jenny looked over.

"Yeah, you see, he's Simba's son," Akito said. "Who is the Lion King of Pride Rock in Africa."

"I bet some cruel poacher kidnapped him and took him away from his family and sold him here." Estelle said out of hatred towards poachers.

* * *

"Hey, Ryan, what's wrong?" Kopa asked.

"I just wanna roar like Dad..." Ryan explained, though cheered up once he came up with his explanation. "That's why we need to go to the wild!"

"Hold on a sec," Samson came between the two cubs. "We've got everything we could ever want here. Great lifestyle, three square meals a day..."

"Trust me, Kopa, being here is sooo boring." Ryan said to his new friend.

"Trust me, I believe you already, I mean, come on, where are the butterflies to chase after for fun? And where's the perfect place for pouncing lessons? There isn't even enough room for hunting." Kopa said before looking to Samson. "But don't worry, sir, we'll get all of that soon because Ryan knows how we can get back to the wild."

"He did?" Samson looked frightened for a moment.

"The pigeons say those green boxes go there." Ryan explained.

"Those boxes are bad news..." Samson scolded. "Stay away!"

"But, Dad!" Ryan complained.

"It's the only way to get back where we belong." Kopa added.

"I know you're both frustrated, but a lion finds his roar..." Samson started to explain.

"Here." Ryan pointed to his own chest, finishing for him, having been told that a million times already.

"Kopa, I know this is an adjustment for you, but you'll learn to love the zoo and you'll make loads of new friends!" Samson told the new cub then.

There was then a woman screaming which got everyone's attention. "IT'S A RAT!"

There was a grey squirrel trying to pull a candy necklace away from a baby stroller.

"A rat?!" The squirrel asked, finding what the woman called him insulting and was then being flung around by the baby while holding onto the candy necklace.

"No, that's a squirrel..." Cherry told the panicking woman.

"THE RAT IS TAKING MY BABY'S CANDY!" the woman cried.

"It's a squirrel..." Cherry grumbled.

"SOMEONE STOP THE RAT!" the woman wailed.

"It's a gosh darn _squirrel_!" Cherry shook the woman. "They take nuts, live in trees, and can be screwy sometimes, it's a _squirrel_!" she then held her head and groaned slightly.

"At least some humans have common sense." the squirrel grumbled after he splatted on the ground. Unfortunately for him he wouldn't be on the ground for long as the woman who called him a rat hit him knocking his right into the lion preserve and his head landed in Samson's nose.

"Who is that? And why did he steal that... Thing?" Kopa asked Ryan.

"Lastly, that is the ugliest baby I've ever seen!" the squirrel pointed as he had his head stuck in Samson's nostril.

"Benny, stealing candy from a baby?" Samson scoffed to the squirrel before sneezing him out.

Ryan caught the squirrel in his paw then.

"Stealing is such a strong word, I prefer 'liberating'." the squirrel replied.

"How is stealing from a baby liberating?" Kopa asked.

"It's grown-up stuff, you wouldn't understand," Benny looked at him. "Say, I didn't know Ryan had a brother."

"Oh, I'm not his brother, I'm new here, my name is Kopa I'm from the Pridelands in Africa." Kopa told him.

"Ah, I see..." Benny noted, then looked back to the cub who caught him. "Hey, kid, heard the roar, down another..." he was unable to come up with a complimenting word.

"Octave." Samson whispered a suggestion to him.

"Octave." Benny repeated.

Ryan glared at the squirrel and dropped him flat on the ground.

"You ready to cheer me and your old man as we capture our fifth straight turtle-curling title?" Benny asked as he did karate poses once he got to his feet. "I'm sure your friend Kopa will love to watch!"

"What's turtle-curling?" Kopa asked. "We don't have turtle-curling back home."

"Oh, it's easy, it's..." Benny was about to explain, but noticed that Ryan went to sulk again. "Hey, kid, aren't ya excited?"

"I can't even roar," Ryan continued to mope. "How would you even know I'm there?" he then leaped off one stand and went to climb up a tree.

Kopa frowned, he decided to go help his friend the best he could.

* * *

"We need to get Kopa out of that cage, he's not meant to live in a zoo." Felicity told her cousins.

"But what can we do?" Jenny asked.

Akito started to think and then a light bulb from a lamp post turned on as his face lit up, getting an idea.

"Oh, I know what that look means." Estelle smirked to her twin.

"We're going to hide and stay here overnight, so then when everyone is gone, we'll be able to get Kopa out of here and back to where he belongs." Akito smiled.

"How do we hide out here overnight?" Vincent asked.

"Yeah." Estelle added.

"Easy, by magic." Akito said.

Eloise came down from Bill's shoulders and she couldn't help but overhear, she came to her cousins. "What are you guys up to now?"

"Ellie, don't tell anyone, but we have to get Kopa out of the zoo and back to his home." Akito explained.

"I won't tell anyone," Eloise said, zipping her lips. She then looked curious. "But... How do you expect to get him out without anyone noticing?"

"We'll use our magic so to be invisible until everyone is gone." Estelle told her.

"This sounds dangerous and adventurous..." Eloise said, but then smiled. "I like it."

"Oh, boy... Another adventure..." Felicity sighed. "Can we not stay home and just hope Kopa can go home very soon?"

"Oh, come on, Felicity, it's an adventure." Vincent said.

"I know, but..." Felicity seemed hesitant.

"Come on, please, I promise that you won't get hurt." Estelle promised.

Felicity sighed, very nervous, but she gave in. "All right... But you owe me!"

"Deal." Akito promised.

"This better work..." Felicity whispered to herself.

The group then left the lion preserve and continued to explore what the zoo had to offer for them.

"Come on, El!" Bill told his 'special little lady'.

"I'm cooooming!" Eloise called as she twirled after the man she highly admired.

* * *

"You really think he dropped an octave?" Samson asked the squirrel.

"Absolutely," Benny agreed, then looked thoughtful for a moment. "What the heck is an octave?"

"We heard that!" Ryan and Kopa called out in unison.

Benny and Samson then looked to each other.


	4. Chapter 4

"Do you often climb trees?" Kopa asked his friend.

"Mostly when I'm really depressed..." Ryan sighed heavily. "I really need to get out of here!"

"You know you could also use the trees to sharpen your claws, I can show you how." Kopa said, hoping to cheer him up.

"I never really thought about that before." Ryan said to him.

"Come on down, I'll help you out." Kopa smiled.

Ryan shrugged and pounced down next to him in front of the tree.

"Okay, first thing you need to do is get your claws out." Kopa said, demonstrating by showing his claws.

Ryan nodded and expanded his claws. "Right."

"Next, we look for a potential tree to use it's barks for sharpening our claws on." Kopa said.

"Come on, I think I saw a better one in the back." Ryan suggested, leading the way.

"Great." Kopa smiled.

Ryan led the way.

Kopa was wondering how they took one part of the jungle and put it in a zoo, but it all seemed so fake. "This seems nice and all, but there's no place like home."

"Don't worry, you'll be there soon." Ryan promised.

"Thanks, Ryan, I can't wait for you to meet my dad." Kopa smiled.

"He sounds cool." Ryan smiled back.

"Oh, Dad's just the best!" Kopa praised, then sighed a little. "I wonder if he misses me as much as I miss him."

"I'm sure he does." Ryan said softly.

"Yeah, but he must be in mourning over my grandmother's death." Kopa frowned.

"What happened to her?" Ryan asked.

"She was killed by a human." Kopa said as a tear came out of his left eye.

"Oh, my gosh..." Ryan's tone shifted into softness. "I-I'm so sorry to hear that..."

"She was trying to protect me and she got shot..." Kopa sniffled. "She was all he had left... My grandfather died before I was born."

"I'm so sorry to hear that... Well, at least you still have both your parents waiting for you back home." Ryan said.

"Yeah, I guess..." Kopa sighed a little. "Plus there's Timon and Pumbaa..."

"So, what animals are they exactly?" Ryan asked curiously.

"Timon's a meerkat and Pumbaa's a warthog." Kopa explained.

Ryan chuckled.

"I know, it sounds weird, a lion to be friends with other animals, but-" Kopa replied.

"No, no, it's not that, my best friends are different animals too." Ryan insisted.

"Really?" Kopa asked in surprise.

"Yeah, a male kangaroo and a male hippo." Ryan smiled.

"What are their names?" Kopa asked.

"Their names are Eze and Duke." Ryan told him.

"I hope I can meet them." Kopa sounded hopeful, he may as well make friends with the other animals while he was here.

"I'm sure you will." Ryan agreed.

It took a while, but they finally got to the tree that Ryan had in mind.

"Will this one do?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, this one will do very nicely," Kopa smiled before walking over to the tree. "Alright, now all we have to do is claw at the tree."

Ryan got his claws ready and he looked determined.

"I do this all the time at home." Kopa told his friend as he was ready to claw at the tree himself.

"It must be fun to live in the wild." Ryan said joining him.

"It sure is, but also can be dangerous." Kopa said before starting to claw at the tree.

"Still a lot better than here where all you do is stand around all day while humans stare into your soul and take your picture with those flashy things..." Ryan grumbled as he attempted to claw at the tree.

"Well, once we get out of here, I'll show you the way to Pride Rock so you can meet my pride and Timon and Pumbaa and the old bird himself, Zazu." Kopa smiled.

Ryan smiled in high hopes of that. "Awesome!"

"Zazu can be really annoying." Kopa said.

"Yeah?" Ryan asked.

"He has so many rules and he's such a tattletale sometimes..." Kopa rolled his eyes. "Mom told me that when Dad was younger, he tried to fire Zazu."

"Really?" Ryan then asked with a laugh, trying to imagine that.

"Yeah, I'm just surprised that Dad did really fire him," Kopa sighed. "Anyways, doing this will make your claws more sharp and also dangerous by anyone evil like Scar or Zira."

"Scar or Zira...?" Ryan did not know who those lions were.

"Scar is an evil lion who was my Dad's uncle until he betrayed my grandfather Mufasa by letting him get killed in a wildebeest stampede, luckily, my dad killed Scar so then, his reign of terror would end with the hyenas in the Pridelands," Kopa said. "And as for Zira, well, she's still alive, but she's in the Outlands with her pride, son, and daughter."

"Hmm..." Ryan took note of those two. He was relieved to hear that Scar was gone, but worried because Zira was still around. "Well, let's hope that if that Zira lady comes back, your family will be ready for her."

"Oh, I'm very certain..." Kopa agreed. "And I just know she's training her own cubs to rise against my dad to avenge Scar. Yeah, well, the truth is my dad didn't really kill Scar, it was really the hyenas, because during the fight of Dad and Scar, the hyenas overheard that evil lion say that it was all the hyenas' fault and was their idea, so to make it short, Scar blamed the hyenas to try to save his own skin." he then added.

Ryan scoffed. "Serves him right..."

"Tell me about it..." Kopa agreed, then saw Ryan having trouble with clawing. "Um... Maybe you should pretend the tree is someone you don't like and you're finally getting back at them." he offered as a suggestion to help Ryan claw more convincingly.

"Kind of hard, because I don't really have anyone I hate here." Ryan said.

"Well, um, then think if this bark is Scar and he was blaming something terrible he did and said that you did it," Kopa said. "As soon as you get that image in your head, start clawing on the tree."

"Hmm... I don't know Scar though..." Ryan hummed.

"Just think about how my dad felt when he found out his own uncle killed his father." Kopa coached.

"Okay." Ryan said before starting to imagine it and where it made him both sad and angry and started to claw at the tree.

"Now we're cookin'!" Kopa chuckled.

Ryan even growled a little, but tried not to overdo it, and he got better than he was before. Kopa started to join in and where both of their claws were now getting sharper and sharper.

* * *

The sun was nearly setting which meant it was dinner time for the zoo animals.

"We should probably get back to the hotel." Bill suggested.

"Aww!" Eloise pouted and folded her arms.

"It is getting rather late, Jennifer." Winston said.

"Oh, alright, Winston." Jenny sighed.

"Maman, do we have to go now?" Felicity frowned.

"Sorry, Flick, but you know how your brother gets agitated when we stay in one place for too long..." Cherry explained.

Simon whined and screamed, pounding on the ground like an immature toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

"Fine." Felicity sighed.

Cherry picked up Simon. "Now stop it!"

Simon kept pounding and even punched his mother against her face, but it didn't hurt her. Akito, Estelle, and Vincent were still determined to break Kopa out of the zoo, one way or another.

"Okay, time to use our magic." Akito whispered to his brother and twin sister.

"Uh-huh..." Estelle and Vincent agreed.

"Should we let the kids stay behind and help Kopa escape?" Mo whispered to Atticus after overhearing what their kids were whispering about.

"Just as long as we make sure they don't get caught." Atticus whispered back.

"I know they won't," Mo smirked a little. "They got that from me when I was a kid."

"True." Atticus nodded.

Eloise was about to leave with Bill and Jenny was about to go with Winston. The Fudo siblings stayed close together, huddling by their parents to make it look like they were also leaving. But the moment they got to the gates, the Fudo siblings got away with their magic and hid away. Felicity then used her own magic and hid away with them, she was able to see them since she was invisble now too. The employees told the guests to have a nice evening after their visit to the zoo and they then went to feed the animals since it was now their dinner time.


	5. Chapter 5

"Mmm... Rabbit." Samson said as soon as he saw a meat steak.

"Chloestral," Benny scoffed as he tried to crack open an acorn without help, but it was nearly impossible, despite the fact that he was a squirrel and had done it his whole life. "I'll stick with nuts."

"I don't know what Ryan's problem is Benny, he's eleven, but he's still roaring a nine-year-old level." Samson said.

"Little help here, Sammy?" Benny asked as he struggled with his acorn.

Samson saw the problem and bit on the acorn to open it for his squirrel friend.

"You know what?" Benny spoke up after getting a munch out of his acorn now. "Maybe you're setting the bar too high, with all those stories about Samson of the Wild."

"Hey! He's always loved those stories, they inspire him." Samson defended.

"Okay... I'm not gonna argue with someone who can use my tail as dental floss." Benny decided to stop the argument right then and there.

Samson then yawned for a moment and licked his teeth.

"Oh, Sam, you got something right there..." Benny spoke up then.

"Where?"

"No, no, other side."

"Here?" Samson asked before letting a piece of stray meat land on the squirrel's head. "Oh, sorry, Benny."

"You got it..." Benny cringed.

"And then there's Kopa, this must be a troubling time for him." Samson said.

"Ah, I'm sure it'll all turn out okay, it usually does..." Benny insisted.

"Yeah, you're right, he'll probably like it here." Samson smiled.

"Can never tell with kids, I always say, that's why I don't have any." Benny shrugged, the snacked on his acorn.

* * *

People were leaving the zoo as the gates opened for them and they were grabbing koala bear dolls on the way out, finding them very cute and cuddly. And where each one was the same because when you pulled the cord on the back, it would always say 'I'm so cuddly I like you'.

"El, you want a koala doll?" Bill asked as he walked off with a smile, then looked around. "Eloise?"

"Jennifer, would you like a koala doll?" Winston asked as he walked off with a smile, but then looked around as well. "Jennifer?"

Forte saw the dolls, finding them repulsive, but was sure Felicity would want one. Simon took a doll, but was biting at its neck, trying to suck out its blood, but only found stuffing.

"He's getting aggressive again." Forte sighed.

"Don't worry, Simon, we're going home now..." Cherry said as she held her aggressive son.

Simon hissed loudly in response and kept gnawing at the koala doll.

"Why did we have another child again?" Forte murmured as they walked off with the other leaving guests of the zoo.

* * *

Benny was watching the people from a high branch, he loved night time at the zoo. After the gates closed, Benny looked to see if there were any humans still in the zoo.

"Finally... And the zoo will officially be ours in T-minus three, two... and showtime!" Benny now cheered after the lights were out and the humans, well the ones he could see, were gone.

An elephant trumpeted right behind him, knocking him off course for a moment.

"Here I come!" A koala called out before jumping off a tree branch only to land on a metal bar of a fence. "Who put that bar there?"

The animals were sneaking out of their cages and meeting up together once it was dark out and they were going to have a lot of fun. A snake slithered out of a statue, an elephant passed, a giraffe saw a flock of flamingos together to help them out, only for them to trample over the poor koala bear.

"Guys! Off my co-captain now!" Samson told the flamingos.

The flamingos backed off and did as he said, one stayed behind, gently patting the koala bear on his stomach and apologized for their actions before kicking him between his legs.

"Ow!" the koala bear groaned in instant pain. "That didn't hurt..."

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell ya," Benny said to Samson as he carried the candy necklace. "I'm gonna ask Bridget out finally."

"Slow down, Romeo, you are a squirrel and she is-" Samson said.

"Perfect, right!?" Benny beamed. "Look, I know what you're sayin'. Believe me, I got my eyes wide open."

But unfortunately for him, he had bumped into something or someone.

"Watch where you're going, you b-b-b-b..." Benny stuttered as soon as he saw the giraffe he was in love with. "Bridget."

"Don't stare at my spots, Benny, my eyes are up here." the female giraffe scolded slightly.

Benny still stared at her, then snapped back to talk with her so he wouldn't seem like a drooling imbecile. "Of course, I'm so sorry..." he nervously told her, showing the candy necklace. "Oh, this is for you, honey... It goes around your left hoof."

"Did you get that out of the trash?" Bridget snorted in slight disgust.

Benny was too nervous to respond.

"Oh, you did, you little trash picker!" Bridget scolded.

"I'm not a trash picker, I'm a recycler, that's a lot more romantic, isn't it?" Benny asked her.

"Romantic?" Bridget scoffed.

"Sam, come here." Benny whispered to his lion friend to help him get a literal boost.

"Don't mention 'romantic' to me, Benny," Bridget scoffed as the grey squirrel was then hopped in the air to talk with her, face-to-face. "I've never had a boyfriend..."

"Great, that settles it, I accept the job a boyfriend never was." Benny told her.

"Benny, only the female Orb Weber Spider will date a male one twentieth her size." Bridget told him.

"So there's hope!" Benny smiled.

"And then she eats him." Bridget told him.

"Huh?" Benny said, confused, before crashing down back to the ground.

"But at least he dies happy." Samson whispered to his squirrel friend after Bridget left.

A hippo and kangaroo met together, deciding to go see Ryan as they joined the other animals as they snuck out of their cages, as was a night time tradition in this zoo.

* * *

The human kids were grouped together and became visible once the zoo keepers were off for the night.

"Jenny, you're helping too?" Vincent was surprised.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay..." Jenny smiled innocently.

"Oh, come on, admit it, you did come in here to help us help Kopa escape the zoo." Vincent said with a knowing smirk.

"Well, that, and... I'd just be worried about you if I stayed home with Oliver and Georgette." Jenny replied.

Vincent smiled to her. "Thanks, Jenny."

"Alright, let's get going to the lion preserve." Akito said.

"Do you remember where it was...?" Felicity felt lost as she looked at the zoo's map.

"Sure, come on." Akito led the way.

"Wait for me!" Eloise called to her cousins and friend.

"Let's hope that Kopa is being patient." Vincent said.

"I'm sure he's found some way to pass the time..." Estelle shrugged. "Hm... Wonder where the animals are going."

"I heard some of them talking about some game." Eloise spoke up.

"Ooh, it's a little hard to see in the dark..." Akito had trouble.

"It is?" Felicity asked, a little confused.

"Yeah, isn't it for you?" Jenny asked.

"Aren't you forgetting?" Felicity asked before opening her mouth wide to show her fangs. "I'm a creature of the night."

"Oh, right." Akito said.

Larvitar, Teddy, Vulpix, and Misdreavus then came out of their Pokeballs.

"Where are we going?" Misdreavus asked.

"The lion preserve," Felicity told her Pokemon. "We have to save Kopa, they've trapped him!"

"Kopa?" Misdreavus asked.

"He's Simba and Nala's son from Pride Rock." Felicity explained.

"Oh, yeah, I think Papa told me about him once." Larvitar smiled.

"I have." Akito smiled.

"I'll lead the way." Felicity offered since she had night vision.

"Lead the way." Akito smiled.

* * *

While the kids were making their way to the lion preserve, Samson was now walking over to the tree Ryan and Kopa were in.

"H-Hey, boys," Samson smiled up to them. "Listen, I'm headin' down to the game. I'm gonna see you there, right?"

Ryan climbed closer to the leaves to avoid being seen.

"Come on, Ryan," Samson insisted. "We need you. You're our biggest fan."

"Yo, Samson!" a rhino with a foam finger on his horn walked by with a cheerful expression. "I'm your number one fan, man!"

"Thanks, man, right back at ya!" Samson smiled to him.

"You were saying, Dad?" Ryan asked.

"Listen, about this afternoon, I was just trying to..." Samson tried to apologize.

"Dad, fine, I'll go to your game, alright?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, we'll both be there." Kopa said.

"Okay," Samson looked hurt but tried to not let it bother him. "I'll see you both there..." he then walked off.

Ryan sighed as he lay in the tree with Kopa.

As soon as Samson left, the kangaroo and hippo popped their heads out.

"Come on, dude." the kangaroo said to the hippo.

The hippo didn't respond at first, but then followed him.

The kangaroo came to the tree and called up. "Hey, dude!"

"Guess who's here?" the hippo added.

Ryan turned to see his best friends he told Kopa about. "Eze! Duke!"

"Man, he always guesses..." the kangaroo groaned.

"So these are Eze and Duke." Kopa smiled.

"Got that right." Ryan smiled back.

"Ryan, did you make two of yourself?" the hippo asked in surprise.

"Nah, Eze this is Kopa, he's from Africa." Ryan said.

"Whoa, the wild!" Duke the kangaroo sounded amazed.

"Anyway, we're gonna stalk the gazelles while everybody's at the game." Eze informed.

"You in?" Duke smirked.

"Can Kopa come along?" Ryan asked.

"Sure, the more the merrier." Eze accepted.

"Cool, come on!" Ryan told his new friend.

Kopa thought he might as well and actually looked eager to see this himself. "Sure!"

Ryan glanced to his father as he went off, then came down with Kopa.

"This is going to be so awesome." Duke smiled.

The two lion cubs, hippo, and kangaroo then set off to have their own fun while everyone else would watch the 'turtle-curling' game.

* * *

"How did I get here?" Larvitar asked himself.

"Ya got me..." Teddy rubbed his head.

"We must have accidentally separated from the others." Larvitar said.

"Oh, no!" Misdreavus sounded worried. "I promised Maestro Forte and Madame Cerise I'd watch over Felicity!"

"Oh, no, what do we do!" Vulpix exclaimed.

"Get off the rink!" A penguin told them.

"Huh?" the Pokemon looked at the penguin.

"Get off the rink right now!" the penguin scolded. "I don't know what you are, but you're not supposed to be here!"

"Oops, sorry!" Larvitar told him.

The Pokemon that walked on their feet slipped a little, but managed to get off the ice while Misdreavus just floated with no problem, she had a small smug smile that she was able to do that.

"Wipe that smug look off your face." Larvitar groaned.

"What look?" Misdreavus shrugged innocently.

"Let's just watch the game while we're here." Vulpix groaned.

The Pokemon then got to a manageable space.

"Sorry about that, folks," the penguin said to the animal crowd as he got onto a block with a microphone. "We're into the final period of the curling championships and the penguins are up!"

A penguin came from the other penguins and slid a turtle down the ice to start the game.

"Cool." Teddy smiled.

The Pokemon seemed to enjoy the sport, even if they didn't understand it. But they didn't seem to like the penguins. One turtle smacked the other out of the way which made one group of penguins hoot and holler in victory.

" ** _That's gonna be tough to beat!_** " the penguin announcer told the crowd.

"What? Tough to beat? That's just the way we like it, right guys?" Samson asked his team.

Benny, Bridget, and a snake with them all looked rather weary. The penguin jocks cheered for themselves to rub their team's win in their faces.

"I can't believe this! If we lose I'm gonna rip my head off!" The koala exclaimed he then saw one of the penguins on the enemy team laughing. "And yours!"

"We cannot lose to flightless birds!" Bridget told Samson.

"Whoa, whoa," Samson stopped them. "No one is losing anything around here... As long as we stay focused. By the way, has anyone seen Ryan or Kopa?"

"Oh, I know!" the snake spoke up. "Maybe Ryan's sulking 'cuz he lives in his father's shadow and he roars like a school girl and Kopa is trying to make him feel better like a good friend would!"

"Thanks, Larry." Samson groaned out of sarcasm.

"You betcha." Larry said, not getting that Samson was being sarcastic.

Monkeys were laughing at the top of an ice chunk as they held koala dolls.

The koala bear heaved a grumbling sigh. "Not again..."

"Nigel, ignore them." Samson advised.

 _"I'm so cuddly, I like you."_ The koala doll said.

"You're so cuddly, we like you!" The three female monkeys laughed.

"That's it!" Nigel growled at them. " I am not cuddly! I'm a vicious jungle animal from the streets of London! Fear me!"

The monkeys then decided to play with Nigel like he was one of their toys. Unfortunately, the only thing he could grab onto was Bridget.

"Girls! Put him down!" Samson told the monkeys.

"Nigel, get your paws off my girlfriend!" Benny scolded once he saw Nigel was holding onto Bridget.

"Benny, I'm not your girlfriend!" Bridget told the squirrel.

The monkey girls kept touching and messing around with poor Nigel, not caring what he had to say against them. The monkey girls kept on messing with him until they let go, causing for Bridget to fall on top of Benny. Samson and Nigel fell in the mess, as well as a koala bear doll.

"What is up with Samson's team today?" the penguin announcer mocked the animals, making the others laugh. "Brutal!"

"Benny, Benny, Benny, Benny!" Bridget called to the squirrel who seemed knocked out from the kerfuffle. "Oh, my gosh! Who knows mouth-to-mouth?"

"I do!" Benny stood up then and kissed Bridget right on the mouth.

"What was that?" Bridget asked Benny, now on her nose.

"Just your fine man dose of Benny, baby!" Benny told her.

"Get off my nose." Bridget told him.

"Stop saying that!" Nigel threatened the doll of him that said what it always said.

"Cannonball!" Larry hopped up and landed on Bridget, making Benny fly in the air again.

"Next year, I should just coach." Samson mumbled to himself.

* * *

While all of that was going on, Ryan, Kopa, Eze, and Duke were in the gazelle preserve.

"Check it," Eze spotted the gazelles as they munched on some evening grass. "The Thomson gazelle. Zero to 50 in four-point-five seconds."

"The ultimate fleeing machine." Duke added. "Let's get a closer look at these Slim Jims, shall we?"

Ryan and Kopa stayed behind one tree as they watched the gazelles graze in the grass.

"I believe we shall." Eze said.

"Guys, maybe we should just go to the game." Ryan suggested.

"Yeah and besides, this might be dangerous." Kopa said.

"I thought you wanted to be wild, dudes." Eze said to the lion cubs.

"I bet your dad chased gazelles, Ryan." Duke commented.

"But guys there are so many of them and we might accidentally cause a stampede if we startle them." Kopa said.

"Oh, yeah?" Duke hopped up while Eze went off himself. "Are you gonna stop us? Come on, Ryan!"

"I don't know, guys, maybe he's right." Ryan said.

Duke and Eze ignored the lion cubs and went ahead.

"Stop!" Kopa cried. "Come on, guys!"

"Guys!" Ryan added in.

Duke and Eze did not listen which made Ryan and Kopa sigh that they were being singled out now.

* * *

Back at the game, Samson was going to tell his team the next play they would use.

"Guys, I know we're down, but we're gonna pull this out 'cuz we're gonna use..." he looked around then, and whispered the bit to them. "The secret play."

"The secret play!" Larry gasped. "Hey, everybody, guess what? We're gonna use the secret play!"

Samson looked annoyed that Larry got to say that out loud for everyone at the rink to hear.

"Larry, the part of the secret play is keeping it secret." Bridget told the not so smart snake.

"Okay." Larry said.

"Just follow my head..." Samson added, shaking his head at Larry. "I'm going to need a double effort from everybody."

"Absolutely, captain!" Nigel saluted. "Triple effort if you want, sir."

"Good," Samson nodded. "Ready and..."

"BREAK!" the five animals then joined together to preform their secret play.

* * *

 _ **Back at the gazelle preserve...**_

"Shh, quiet." Eze said.

The kids were still looking for the lion cubs, not having been able to find them at the lion preserve.

Felicity then looked to the gazelles and looked behind them to see the hippo, kangaroo, and two lion cubs. "I see them in here... But isn't this bad?"

"Oh, no, I think I know what those two are thinking and it's a terrible idea." Akito said, referring to the kagaroo and hippo.

"Okay, ready, dude? One, two..." Duke counted.

"NO!" Kopa and Ryan yelled, they then pounced in front of the kangaroo and hippo and tried to roar them away.

The gazelles heard the noise that was not lion roar enough and it made them look up. Duke and Eze laughed at the lion cubs for that 'lame roar'.

"Guys, this is serious, stalking the gazelles is like scaring them." Kopa said.

There was then a rumbling.

"Uh-oh..." Duke whispered.

"Now ya did it, guys!" Eze gasped.

"Oh, no, I recognize this rumbling, it must be a..." Kopa said before looking behind him to see what he had feared.

"Oh, my gosh!" Akito and Estelle held each other as they saw too.

"I suggest that we run for our lives!" Jenny exclaimed.

The others rushed off then.

* * *

Meanwhile at the game, Samson was holding Larry back on the ice with the turtle close as Bridget and Benny held Larry's other ends down like a rubber band.

"Feelin' mean, Donald?" Samson asked the turtle.

"Bring it on!" Donald called.

"Folks, there's pressure on the big guy." The announcer penguin said.

"Ready, Bridget?" Samson asked the giraffe.

"Ready!" Bridget gasped as Larry was wrapped around her throat.

"Ready, Benny?" Samson asked the squirrel.

"Ready!" Benny called as he was being held down by his teeth and Larry was wrapped around his body.

"Hey, Samson, it's a shame your brat isn't here to see you lose!" a penguin mocked.

"I can't hold it!" Benny told Samson before flinging off from his position.

Larry was then spinning around Bridget's tall neck and she slid across the ice.

Samson grabbed the turtle and gently slid him across the ice. "Larry, Bridget, sweep!" he told them.

Larry switched a broom a penguin was holding with Benny.

"Sweep faster, Larry! Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" Bridget told the snake.

"I am!" Larry cried.

"Come on, man!" Bridget retorted aggressively.

"Team Penguin is sending their ace, Victor!" the penguin announcer announced.

"Watch it, Victor!" Larry told him.

"Watch it yourself, see?" Victor replied.

"Nigel, how are we looking!?" Bridget called to the koala bear.

The big and buff penguins stood in front of him to block his view.

"This could be trouble, folks!" the penguin announcer called.

"This is cheating and you will die for this!" Nigel snarled.

"Hey, those penguins are cheating!" Teddy cried out.

"Cheaters!" Larvitar yelled out to the penguins.

"I can't hear you, Nigel!" Larry called.

"Move left a bit-" Nigel tried to explain, but one penguin punched him in the face and made him fall back onto the ice.

"Cheaters!" Vulpix yelled at the penguins.

"Cheaters!" Vulpix yelled at the penguins.

"Okay, move left and hit!" Larry spun slightly.

"Larry, no!" Bridget tried to stop the snake.

"Tally, ho!" Larry called before smacking the turtle against a banner.

The turtle sprung into the banner, zipping across the ice, bumped into one penguin that was eating a hot dog with mustard, and slid across the ice again, knocking Nigel out of the way.

 ** _"Folks, we are inches away from the greatest upset in turtle-curling history!"_** the penguin announcer called.

"Go on! Go on!" Samson told the turtle.

The turtle slid inches away from the goal.

 **"Looks like Samson might have choked!"** the penguin announcer called, sounding pleased about that possibility.

The turtle then forced himself to the goal and allowed Samson's team to earn a point.

"YEAH!" Samson cheered then.

"Yay! They won!" The Pokemon cheered out of happiness before they each started to do a victory dance for the winning team.

 **"Samson and his team have clinched the title!"** the penguin announcer called until the rink started to shake and the turtles were moving against their will. **_"No, wait! I've called it too soon!"_**

"What the heck?" Samson didn't understand what was going on.

"The penguins have done it!" the penguin announcer smiled then. "They're zoo champs for the first time!"

"I feel a stampede!" Teddy told his 'cousins'.

"Same here, we have to warn everybody." Larvitar said.

"Stampede!" Samson told the others.

Ryan and Kopa came in front of the ice and tried to stop the gazelles, but they wouldn't listen and they nearly trampled over the two lion cubs.

"Everyone, please evacuate the area!" Vulpix called out.

The gazelles stumbled onto the ice and slid, nearly knocking everybody down. Ryan and Kopa ended up on the ice as well, sliding onto it and slid against Samson's front paws.

"Dude..." Eze winced slightly.

"Busted!" Duke added.

Samson looked very firm to the lion cubs.

"We told ya we'd come to your game." Ryan laughed nervously.

"You think this is funny?" Samson scoffed. "You just endangered everyone in the zoo!"

"W-We're sorry..." Kopa said softly.

"For what?" Samson circled them. "Chasing the gazelles or costing us the game?"

"No, we-" Ryan said.

"It was my fault, sir!" Kopa told Samson, taking the blame.

"Your fault?" Samson looked to the cup who was not his own son. "All Ryan does is sit up in his tree and sulk!"

"Listen, it's my fault because, well, you see, I wanted to take a look and where I had accidentally startled them causing the stampede." Kopa told him, still taking the blame.

"Is that true?" Samson asked.

"Kopa, you don't have to..." Ryan said to his friend.

"I don't want you to get in trouble with your dad," Kopa whispered to his friend before speaking to Samson again. "Yes, sir."

Ryan still felt bad, but he said nothing more.

"So, if you punish anyone, punish me." Kopa said, sacrificing himself.

"Whoa, the dude is taking the rep for Ryan." Duke whispered.

"Twisted..." Eze added.

"I'm really sorry, sir." Kopa said.

"Hmm..." Samson looked to Kopa. "Both of you, go to the preserve right now... We'll talk about this later."

"Yes, sir." Kopa hung his head.

"Kopa!" Akito's voice called out.

"Huh?" Kopa then lifted his head. "Th-That's funny, I thought I heard my name..."

"Come on, Kopa, we have a long walk." Ryan told his friend, he seemed very hurt and angry that his dad was unhappy.

"I'm coming." Kopa smiled.

* * *

"He looks so much like Simba..." Felicity whispered as she caught a glimpse of Kopa herself.

"Yeah, except for the truff of brown fur on his head," Estelle said. "I wonder why he didn't come over here when Akito called out his name."

"We'll have to dig a little deeper." Jenny advised.

"Bye, Ryan and Kopa, thanks for coming to the game!" Larry waved to the cubs as they left. "And you were worried they wouldn't show up..." he then nudged Samson.

Samson sighed after what just happened. The human kids then decided to track down the lion cubs while Samson could only sulk right now, he was worried that Ryan was mad at him now.


	6. Chapter 6

"Not good, no one listens to the squirrel." Benny said.

Samson and Benny were walking down one path while Benny was on the edge of the fountain.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Benny," Samson sighed. "I tried everything."

"Everything?" Benny stopped in his steps. "You tried everything?"

"What are you saying, Benny?" Samson asked the squirrel.

"I'm saying you have to tell him the truth." Benny said.

Samson looked worried at first. "I don't think I could do that, Benny," he then thought about it a moment. "I mean... What's he gonna think of me when he finds out?"

Benny was unsure, but he knew the only way to face this problem was for the one who caused it to stand up against it. "I don't know. But if you don't tell him, you're gonna lose him, Sammy." he then got off the fountain and scampered off elsewhere.

Samson sighed, knowing Benny was right, he just felt like this could not end well for him.

"Ryan, I know that your dad already said to stay away from the green boxes, but I'm going into those green boxes and get back home where I belong." Kopa said.

"I'm going with you." Ryan replied.

"Are you sure? It might be dangerous." Kopa said.

"If my dad could do it, so can I," Ryan reassured, then looked to a promotional image of lions being fierce, proud, and wild. "I wanna be a real lion and if I have to go to the wild to do it, I will!"

The two cubs looked behind the gated fence and could see green boxes.

"There they are, I think." Kopa said.

"Kopa!" Akito's voice called out.

"Kopa! Where are you?!" Estelle's voice called out.

"Did you hear that?" Kopa knew he had to hear his name that time then.

"Yeah, I did hear two voices, but I'm sure it was just our imagination, come on, let's get to the green boxes." Ryan said.

Kopa hummed, but he followed Ryan to the green boxes.

"Kopa, stop, it's us!" Felicity called.

Ryan was the first to go past the fence and into one of the green boxes without looking back, not noticing that Kopa had stopped to look back. As soon as Ryan was gone, the kids decided to appear then and meet the heir to Pride Rock. Kopa was happy to see his human friends.

"Kopa, what are you doing here?" Vincent playfully smirked. "You belong in the Savanna with your friends and family!"

"I know..." Kopa was so happy to see familiar faces that he didn't even care he was away from home right now. "Do you guys know how to get me home?"

"Um, well, yes, we'd need to catch a plane to Africa." Akito said.

"Hey, Kopa, wasn't there another lion cub next to you?" Estelle asked.

"Oh, I guess Ryan must have gone ahead into the green boxes without me without knowing it." Kopa said.

"Ryan?" the twins asked.

"Come on, we better get him!" Kopa suggested, running ahead and leading them to the green boxes.

Estelle stopped running and noticed something missing. "Oh, Teddy!" she cried like a devastated mother separated from her child.

"Mama!" Teddy called out, running over to Estelle with the rest of the Pokemon following him.

"Oh, there you are..." Estelle hugged her Teddyursa with tears in her eyes.

"Take us to the green boxes, Kopa." Jenny told the cub.

"Come on, if we hurry, maybe we can make it." Kopa said before running off to take them to the green boxes he had heard about. But then they heard something that wasn't good.

Ryan had climbed a tree and jumped through the fence, going into one of the green boxes and took a rest until it would close and take him to his destined location: into the wild.

"Time to load it up!" a man called.

The doors closed and now Ryan was stuck in the box with no way out.

"Uh-Oh, this isn't good," Kopa said. "Ryan's lived in the zoo practically his whole life."

"But he's a lion, he'll be fine... Right?" Jenny asked.

"Zoo lions live differently than wild lions," Kopa explained to her. "Say, you speak 'Lion'."

"It's a bit of a long story, but yes..." Jenny smiled bashfully once she remembered how she earned that ability. "Anyway, we have to save your friend Ryan!"

"Yeah, who knows what could happen to him in the wild?" Estelle agreed.

"Then come on, let's save him." Larvitar said.

Ryan yelled for help, deeply regretting his decision.

A man was getting ready to drive off with him.

"He's in this one!" Kopa led them to where he heard Ryan yelling for help.

"We have to get there fast!" Larvitar exclaimed.

"I got the fast part down!" Akito said as he ran, being the fastest out of all of them.

* * *

"Ryan!" a voice yelled.

"Dad!" Ryan called back.

Kopa turned to see that Samson was on the other side. It made him think of when he was taken away from Pride Rock and his dad tried to save him. Akito began to try to get the green box off the vehicle it was attached to. Samson, Larry, Bridget, and Benny watched as it looked like Ryan was going to be taken away.

"Don't worry, I'm gettin' you out of there!" Akito growled as he tried to reach for the box with his speed to match the truck's speed. But unfortunately for him, he tripped, missing the truck.

"Akito!" the others stopped after he tripped.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Felicity checked for any scrapes, she had wanted to be a nurse when she grows up.

"No, but I missed the truck." Akito groaned, punching the ground out of his carelessness.

There was now a crack formed in the ground.

"It's not your fault." Larvitar soothed his trainer.

"Benny, we've got to get that truck followed." Samson said to the squirrel.

"Check." Benny nodded.

"Bring me the pigeons." Samson said.

The animals then got out of the fence and went to see the pigeons. The Pokemon looked very curious about these pigeons.

"Let's go find out these pigeons." Teddy said.

"Pigeons?" Estelle looked to her little bear Pokemon.

"Maybe they can help?" Eloise shrugged.

"Oh, I know a pigeon!" Felicity spoke up. "He used to deliver letters for my Papa when Maman lived with her father and I lived with Papa, King Adam, and Queen Belle!"

"Well, come on, let's meet these pigeons." Kopa said.

The zoo animals went ahead, so the kids and Pokemon followed after.

"Hang on, Ryan, we'll be right back!" Kopa promised before following the others.

* * *

There were pigeons together uptown and they were using insects as dice to gamble together. And where one of them had a crazy look on his face. There were three female pigeons who were also singing and dancing. The pigeon looked to the ladybugs and he cheered in victory. And where one of the lady bugs helped the other get right side up.

"Hamir, you are the greatest loser of all time!" the pigeon called. "What offerings must I make, I wonder?"

"Hamir, Hamir!" Benny ran up to the pigeon and slapped him across the face. "Get a grip on yourself!"

"This guy?" Kopa asked. "Why not another pigeon?"

"Let me handle this, will ya, kid?" Benny looked to Kopa.

"Benny!" the pigeon squawked out. "I am needing till Friday before I am paying you back!"

"No, no, it's Ryan, he's in one of those green boxes and they took him away on a truck, we gotta find him." Benny said to the pigeon.

"This is not good!" Himar gasped as his feathers were quite literally flying. "Not good at all!"

"I've met a lot of pigeons in my day, but this guy is just ridiculous!" Eloise spoke up.

"You meet pigeons?" Akito asked his cousin.

"One came around Christmas time one year," Eloise explained. "Her wing was broken, so I took care of her until she was all better, we gave her food and shelter."

"Aw!" Estelle awed.

"What seems to be the problem?" Eloise asked the pigeon gently, getting on her hands and knees to match his eye level.

"The green boxes go to the big water where stiff lady with spikes on her head..." Hamir started to explain.

Eloise looked perplexed for a moment. "A stiff lady with spikes on her head...?"

"That makes absolutely no sense at all." Vincent said.

"I see everyone who comes in and out of New York and I never saw any lady with spikes on her head!" Eloise huffed slightly.

"Yes, like my wife says, the truck takes them to her! To her!" Hamir continued. "Though I hate telling bad news, there is more bad news to tell. When the sun rises, the green boxes leave on boat-boat and never return!"

"Hmm, he must mean the Statue of Liberty and boat-boat must be referring to a ship and the big water is obviously the ocean." Akito said.

"Lady with spikes... Statue with Liberty..." Eloise pieced it together before face-palming herself. "Why didn't I realize that before!?"

"What's a Statue of Liberty?" Kopa asked.

"We'll explain later." Akito told him.

"Right now, we have to get going." Estelle added.

"Okay, when do we leave, Samson?" Kopa asked the lion father.

"Yeah, when do we leave, Sammy?" Benny added.

"It's not 'we', it's me," Samson corrected. "Let's make this clear. This is now a rescue mission and I am the only one going."

"What?! No way! We are all going with you." Akito told him.

"We're not afraid!" Jenny added bravely.

"That's right." Vulpix smiled.

Bridget, Benny, and Larry were of course also in, even Nigel, though he was a little nervous.

"And nothing you can say or do will change our minds." Vincent told Samson.

Samson looked through a gated fence to see the bright lights and tall buildings with a solemn sigh that Ryan was gone and couldn't come back.

"Ryan's like a cub to us." Bridget spoke up softly. "Not that I'll ever have one of my own at this rate..."

"A koala once said, 'We will fight them... with peaches'." Nigel added.

"So we're going." Vincent said.

Bridget glanced at the koala bear. "Yeah... Anyway, the humans and their strange friends are right," she then looked back to Samson. "So we're helping, whatever it takes."

"You wanna leave with me? Okay," Samson came to them. "If you don't mind being hunted down, shot at, stuffed..."

"There are no hunters in the city and besides, everyone must be asleep by now in the city and no one is getting stuffed or shot at." Larvitar said.

Samson sent a glance to Larvitar.

"Okay!" Larry didn't seem to mind or care about the possible dangers.

"I have a recurring nightmare about taxidermy and spot remover." Bridget mumbled.

"Don't worry, nothing bad is going to happen while we're all in the city." Akito said.

"Nobody's leaving but me, got it?" Samson glared to all of them.

'There's no way he's going out there alone.' Akito thought to himself before coming up with a plan.

"But we wanna help!" Felicity insisted.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing, now all of you go back and let me handle this." Samson demanded.

"Okay, we'll let you handle this." Akito said.

"Yep, the situation's all yours." Kopa said.

"You're the boss." Nigel added.

"You got the big hair." Bridget included.

"Absolutely." Larry slithered away.

Benny glared at them as they left and went to speak with Samson since they were good friends. "Hey, way to weed out the weak links," he said to the adult male lion. "Now that they're out of the picture, what's the plan?"

Samson began to tell Benny his plan.

* * *

"You guys aren't really gonna back out, are you?" Kopa asked the snake, the giraffe, and the koala bear.

"Of course we're not backing out." Bridget said.

"We're not?" Nigel asked then.

"No!" Bridget reminded him. "Samson's our friend and whether he wants us to or not, we have to help him find Ryan!"

"That's right." Larry said.

"Well... Good..." Kopa smiled at the true friends. "Hopefully Ryan will be okay and doesn't run into Zira in the Outlands... I haven't really met her myself, but trust me, that's one lioness you wouldn't wanna mess with..."

"What's so bad about her?" Nigel wondered.

"She was one of my great-uncle's followers," Kopa informed. "She still is to this very day and refuses to follow my father as the true king of the jungle and she's made her own pride to overthrow him."

"Oh, my." Nigel said, scared.

"Yeah..." Kopa sighed. "I hate to imagine what kind of cub she was... Anyway, come on!"

"Yeah, let's go rescue Ryan!" Teddy cheered.

Samson and Benny were going their own way, unaware of the search party going to join them.

"I hope everything will be okay while we're gone..." Felicity said, referring to their homes and families.

"Oh, what could go wrong?" Eloise folded her arms surely. "They won't even know we're gone!"

"You sure?" Vincent asked.

"Absotively, posilutely!" Eloise smiled.

* * *

 _ **At the Foxworth house...**_

Winston nervously and frantically came into the house. Oliver and Georgette looked to him.

"What's wrong with him?" Oliver asked Georgette like she knew everything.

"Okay, he's only nervous like that, whenever either something terrible has happened or he has lost Jenny." Georgette said.

"Lost Jenny!?" Oliver sounded panicked.

"Now, now, just stay calm..." Winston said to himself. "I'm sure Jennifer will be fine and I can find her... She probably made an unscheduled visit to Mr. Fagin and his dogs..." He then noticed that he was now scaring the pets. "Oh, umm... No worries..." he chuckled to them. "Excuse me, I need to make a phone call..." he then ran off to the kitchen to use the telephone.

"Jenny wouldn't visit Dodger and the others without taking me..." Oliver frowned.

"Okay, come on, let's go, maybe she's lost and needs our help." Georgette said.

Oliver took Georgette to his secret way out and ended up on the streets with the poodle. The two pets then ran off to find Jenny and hopefully get her home safely.

* * *

 ** _At the Plaza Hotel..._**

Maxine yawned as she stood behind the manager desk with Mr. Salamone until the phone rang.

"Plaza Hotel, how may I help you?" Mr. Salamone greeted.

 _"Mr. Salamone, have you seen Eloise?"_ Nanny asked.

"She isn't upstairs?" Mr. Salamone raised an eyebrow.

 _"I asked Bill and Maxine to take her to the zoo for me since I had a doctor's appointment,"_ Nanny explained. _"I'm afraid she's missing..."_

"Oh, dear... Well, don't worry, I'll make sure word gets out." Mr. Salamone said.

 _"Thank you, I just hope Eloise's mother doesn't find out... Thank you, Mr. Salamone."_ Nanny said before hanging up in worry.

Mr. Salamone also hung up.

"Can I go home now?" Maxine groaned, putting her head between her folded arms.

"No, Maxine, right now, I need you to help me send out word that Eloise is missing and we need to find her." Mr. Salamone said.

"Eloise is missing?" Maxine's eyes widened.

"Yes, now come on!" Mr. Salamome pulled her by her arm.

Maxine wailed and forced her feet to follow him. "Yes, sir, yes, sir..."

"Oh, who knows where that girl could be right now." Mr. Salamone said.

"Yeah... Her mom's gonna kill you..." Maxine chuckled.

"No, she'll kill you..." Mr. Salamone poked her on the nose. "You were looking after her..."

Maxine wanted to think of a comeback, but frowned and felt stuck.


	7. Chapter 7

Meanwhile a garbage truck was now picking up another load of trash. After the truck left, the gates were shutting behind it. Samson poked his head out as he watched the zoo going out of his view.

"Don't worry about a thing, big guy," Benny said as he looked through the garbage. "I got it all taken care of. I know this city like the back of my paw. We ditch this truck at Fifth Avenue, couple lefts, couple rights, bada-boom, past Broadway and-" he was then accidentally knocked off. He then landed on the street, possibly knocking him out.

Bridget started to chew as she felt the wind rush by her face.

"What are you doing here?" Samson glared at the female giraffe once he spotted her.

Bridget tried to explain, but her lips were blowing against the wind that her words came out jumbled up.

"What?!" Samson asked, not understanding what she was saying.

"She said 'we're going to help you find Ryan'!" Larry told Samson for the female giraffe.

"Oh, great." Samson narrowed his eyes before picking up the koala bear.

"Hey, guys, I've got popcorn up my bum," Nigel mumbled as he wore a popcorn bucket like a skirt. "Do I look trashy in this?"

"You look trashy with anything that has to do with anything in the garbage." Akito said.

"We came too." Kopa smiled.

"I only have until sunrise before Ryan is taken away forever and now I have to worry about you all!?" Samson sounded displeased before sighing in reluctnance. "Well... All right, fine. When do we get off this thing, Benny?"

"Benny's here!?" Bridget sounded annoyed and alarmed.

"Yeah, he's right there..." Samson pointed his paw, but the gray squirrel was not there.

"My guess is he must have been accidentally knocked off." Akito said.

Larry tried to call for Benny.

"Benny? Benny!" Samson called out. "Great, now what am I going to do?"

Bridget tried to speak again, but the same result as before happened.

"What did you say?" Felicity asked, unable to understand.

"She says 'DUCK NOW!'" Larry told her.

Samson saw a tree branch coming. "DUCK!"

They all then ducked down to avoid the branch

"Let's stay down until we get to the city." Larvitar suggested.

"I like that plan." Misdreavus said as she floated once more, again, never actually touching the ground or floor below her.

Everything then became dark as they went through a tunnel.

"I am not in the mood for a game of footsie or hoofsie or pawsie or..." Bridget spoke up in utter annoyance.

"Does anyone have something to brighten it up in here?" Kopa asked.

"I can see just fine..." Felicity spoke up.

"Yeah, but that's because you're a creature of the night!" Akito nearly scoffed at his vampire cousin.

Nigel then took out a Statue of Liberty torch to light their way and it was bright enough for them all to see now.

"Did you steal that from the gift shop?" Eloise gave him a look.

"I didn't steal it, I borrowed it," Nigel told her. "I'll light the way to Ryan!"

"How did you borrow it without anyone knowing?" Vulpix asked.

"That's not important right now." Nigel ignored his question.

* * *

Soon enough, the end of the tunnel came up and they were shown the big city.

"Wow... The big city..." Teddy smiled.

"Oh, there's no place like home..." Jenny smiled fondly at the bigger parts of the city. She was rich, but not that rich, so seeing buildings bigger than her house made her happy.

" _New York, New York~..._ " Eloise sang.

"Wow, these buildings are so big." Teddy smiled.

"You should visit some." Jenny smiled back to him.

The animals were also impressed and taken by the beauty and size of the big city.

"Nothing could ruin this moment." Larvitar smiled.

"And then something gets ruined because you say that..." Felicity said, sounding rather pessimistic, reminiscent of her mother and how her father used to be.

"Oh, come on, what could happen?" Larvitar asked.

"Oh, I do not know, how about everything...?" Felicity sighed.

The others looked all around, seeing various buildings, screens, and more that made New York City all the appealing to be around. Bridget looked and she saw the Toys Я Us sign and saw a fellow giraffe before ducking under a stoplight. Larry felt dizzy from all the bright colors. The Pokemon even found the color of the lights in the city were very pretty to them. Samson looked extremely sad once he saw an image of him with Ryan for an ad for the zoo.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's all right." Kopa soothed.

"I sure hope you're right." Samson said.

"I know..." Kopa sighed. "I miss Dad a lot right now myself..."

"I bet he misses you now as well." Samson assured him.

"I just wonder what's going on without me..." Kopa pouted.

"Probably nothing important." Samson shrugged.

* * *

Unfortunately Samson was wrong, because Nala was pregnant.

"Well, Nala, there will be a new heir if Kopa does not return." Rafiki informed the new Prideland queen.

"I know, but it feels like I might give birth to two cubs, one older than the other." Nala said.

"I was sorrowful myself when I heard of the loss of your son, Kopa, but I assure you, he will be back soon." Rafiki soothed the expecting mother.

"So you really think so?" Nala asked, hopeful.

"Nala, I do not think so, I know so..." Rafiki soothed.

Nala sighed, she trusted the baboon, but she wished she could know for sure. "Right... Thanks..." she then wandered off back to join Simba and her fellow lionesses back home.

"You're welcome." Rafiki said.

Nala hung her head, she was glad to become a mother again, but she was still hopelessly worried for her first born. The other lions spoke to Nala, in hopes that they could help.

"Need anything?" a lioness with a tuft on her head and dark circles under her eyes asked.

Nala looked to her, this lioness was a childhood friend of hers and Simba's and Nala usually spoke to her for girl talk. "Um... No thanks, Tama... I'll be alright..."

"Are you sure?" Tama considered. "I know what it's like to lose a cub..." she muttered softly, looking away distantly.

"I'm sure." Nala assured her.

"Well, all right... You know where to find me..." Tama promised.

Nala gave a small nod and kept going until she would find her mate.

* * *

Timon was with one female meerkat that had emerald green eyes. "Ah, Kataka, you're the only one for me..."

There were then meerkats and both seemed to have blonde hair, one had short blonde hair, and the other had flowing blonde hair with a blue hair bow.

"Oh, hello, ladies..." Timon chuckled nervously.

"Who are these two?!" Kataka asked with a glare.

"Who are we!?" the long blonde-haired meerkat glared to her. "Who are you!?"

"Now, now, I can explain everything..." Timon laughed nervously.

"Timon..." another female meerkat with gray eyes came, she gathered flowers in her paws. "You promised you'd come home hours ago after visiting your mother and Uncle Max..."

"Oh, sorry, ladies, look at the moon, I have to... RUN!" Timon then ran away from the girl meerkats.

" **GET HIM!** " All of the female meerkats shouted before going after the male meerkat.

Timon yelled as the girls chased him.

"Look, Timon, you were right!" Pumbaa smiled at his friend. "The ladies love you!"

"Ah, don't remind me!" Timon groaned as he ran away from the girls.

"But they're chasing after you, isn't that a good thing?" Pumbaa asked.

"That's not what I mean!" Timon screamed as he feared what would happen if he stopped running or got faced with a dead-end.

"Ohh." Pumbaa said.

Timon yelled as the female meerkats chased him to make him pay for his misdeeds.

* * *

Nala came to Simba's side as he was tossing and turning, having trouble sleeping. "Oh, my..." she whispered in worry for her mate.

Simba was now having a reoccurring nightmare of the day when Kopa was taken away.

Dad... Dad...!" Kopa's voice sounded echoing and haunting at the same time.

"Kopa!" Simba tried to run for Kopa as the vehicle was taking him away, he kept running, but he was going nowhere as the vehicle kept moving forward with his only cub.

"Dad! Help me! Please!" Kopa's voice kept echoing.

"Kopa!" Simba yelled, still trying to catch him. He then pounced up high in the air.

One of the men took out the gun that killed Sarabi and shot it at Simba.

"Nooooo!" Simba yelled as he was then shot.

Simba yelled out in his sleep, waking up instantly, and looked very shaken and overwhelmed.

"Simba..." Nala whispered.

"It was that nightmare again." Simba said.

"Oh, Simba..." Nala cooed, nuzzling her face against his.

"It's all my fault..." Simba shivered, feeling very miserable.

"No, it isn't." Nala said.

"Nala, I let him go out on his own, I should've asked Timon and Pumbaa or Zazu to watch him!" Simba frowned.

Nala knew that now she had to comfort him before telling him about the news of her pregnancy. Simba still felt miserable, but only the comfort of his queen could really do the trick. Nala did her best, she knew it wouldn't help all the way, but she wanted to wait until he felt all better before she would dump the news on him.

* * *

While that was going on, back in the city, the garbage truck suddenly stopped. The animals, human kids, and Pokemon then slammed against each other before falling. The walls were now slowly closing in on them.

"Oh, no! It just got worse!" Vulpix exclaimed.

"The walls are moving!" Larry panicked.

"Right... Right..." Bridget muttered sarcastically before panicking. "The walls... THE WALLS ARE MOVING!"

"Quick, Akito, you and Larvitar use your strengths to stop the walls from closing in!" Vincent told his younger brother.

"Are you sure about that?" Samson sounded doubtful at first.

"Trust me, we know what we're doing!" Akito told him as he and Larvitar pushed against the walls.

"You get everybody out, we'll take it from here!" Larvitar promised.

Okay, if you're really sure." Samson said.

"All right, don't panic," Nigel spoke up as he had a paint bucket over his head. "All we got to do is-"

Samson grabbed him and threw him out, accidentally throwing him into a stack of paint buckets. Vincent carried Jenny bridal style with Vulpix on his head and jumped out to safety with her. Eloise and Estelle held Teddy's paws and jumped out with him then. Misdreavus held Felicity by her arms and floated her out.

"Alright, next one, out." Akito said while holding the wall in place.

Bridget screamed as she struggled to get herself out after Samson and Larry made it out.

"Please don't tell me that one of your legs got to fall asleep." Akito said.

"Maybe, I'm just stuck!" Bridget grunted and she screamed as she was about to be closed in with them.

Akito and Larvitar began to use their incredible strength to make sure they wouldn't get crushed.

"Push, push!" Akito told his Pokemon.

Larvitar grunted, but he was able to push with his trainer. Bridget was too panicky to notice anything changing, so she kept screaming.

"Samson! Throw Larry to the hood of the truck!" Akito told the lion.

"You got it!" Samson agreed, he then grabbed Larry and threw him as told.

Larry gasped as he was thrown, but landed right on the hood. When the driver saw the snake, it made him scream in a panic and he ran out of the truck, thinking that the garbage came to life somehow. The walls then stopped having to be a little difficult to hold as they stopped.

"Guys?" Bridget weakly called. "Anybody? Okay... I'm freaking out..."

Samson popped his head out. "What's the hold up?"

Nigel was still kind of lost due to the bucket on his head.

"Why is there a bucket on his head?" Teddy asked while looking at Nigel.

"Probably got stuck..." Eloise suggested.

"Poor thing..." Jenny frowned and pulled the bucket off the koala bear's head.

Samson looked around, but sighed. "Bridget, can you see the green lady?" he asked her since she was the tallest out of all of them.

"I'm looking, I'm looking, but I can't see over anything for a change." Bridget frowned.

"The Statue of Liberty is at the ocean which is really far from this spot." Vincent said.

Nigel came to the others as he held his light. "I'll guide the way."

"Uh, I think we know more about it than you do... No offense..." Jenny said to the koala bear.

"Oui." Felicity agreed.

"Yeah, we know a lot more about the city." Eloise said.

There were then unfamiliar barks heard.

"Oh, those don't sound at all like Dodger and the gang..." Jenny sounded overwhelmed now.

"And luckily those also don't sound like Sykes's dogs." Vincent said.

"Yeah..." Jenny chuckled nervously.

A white poodle came with a couple of other dogs as they barked.

"Dogs..." Bridget muttered. "This should be fun."

"Okay, even though these dogs do look mean and possibly vicious, they are still defenseless animals." Akito said.

"Nigel, grab Bridget, everybody stay close together, run!" Samson demanded.

Kopa stayed close with Samson and ran with him and the other zoo animals. Suddenly they were joined with Oliver and Georgette.

"Samson, why don't you tear them to shreds?" Kopa suggested.

"All part of the plan," Samson replied. "This maneuver's known as the Serengeti Slip. Page ten of the Predator's Playbook."

"Oh, right. Wait, what?" Kopa asked.

They passed one way, but ended up in a dead end.

"What's next, Samson?" Vulpix asked nervously.

"Page eleven?" Larry mumbled.

"There's nowhere else to go." Akito said.

* * *

The dogs ran past them, going down the other street.

"Go on, you mutts!" Nigel mocked the dogs. "We could've taken you!"

Unfortunately, the dogs overheard that and came to find their new prey in the alley.

"Taken you to a... To a disco!" Nigel smiled nervously and tried to dance, but hid behind Bridget's leg. "Oh, never mind..."

Larry tried to bark and scare off the dogs, but the dogs came closer.

"HEY!" Oliver's voice yelled.

The dogs turned to see the pompous poodle and little kitten.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Oliver glared at the mean dogs.

"Indeed, leave them alone, you brutes!"Georgette added in.

"Well, hello there..." one rougher dog came over to Georgette's side. "Why don't I throw you a bone, eh, Fluffy?"

"Paws off!" Georgette scowled.

"Yeah, so stay away from my sister!" Oliver glared before realizing what he just said.

Georgette gave him a look, she looked touch for a moment before looking annoyed again.

"Oliver?" Jenny noticed her pets were there. "Georgette?"

"Ah, stay out of this, furball!" another dog shoved Oliver out of the way.

"Make me." Oliver glared.

The dog snarled, crouching down over him and barked loudly. Oliver growled back, and even though he was not a dog, he barked back, hopping off the ground, remembering what Dodger and the others taught him before Jenny found him.

And where then all of a sudden, Georgette bit down on the dog's tail. The dog whined and howled in pain. Jenny ran over to her pets, picking up Oliver instantly and sending a glare to the dogs.

"Feisty... I like that in a gal..." the other dog chuckled.

"You dogs think you got bark?" Bridget retorted. "Well Samson and Kopa got roar!"

"I can't actually roar." Kopa told her.

"Fine then, Samson, show them what you got!" Bridget then told the adult male lion.

The white poodle, though looked plucky and not that tough, looked the most menacing in his face as he growled and his eyes looked psychotic. Samson backed up onto a vent and was now thinking of a plan.

"You stay away!" Eloise told the dogs. "If my dog Weenie were here, you'd be sorry!"

"Yeah!" Estelle added in. "And Teddy is powerful."

"Larry, coil!" Samson came up with a plan.

"Check!" Larry saluted before moving his tail underneath the vent.

Samson then pinched Bridget's leg, which made her back legs jump and Larry bounce up with them and the vent opened up.

"Samson, we can beat them, just let my friends use their Pokemon and their powers." Jenny told the adult male lion.

"No, I have a plan!" Samson told her.

"Oh, really, and what might your plan be?" Jenny asked.

"Just go with it!" Samson nearly growled in her face.

Jenny's eyes widened slightly in small fright over that, he was a predator after all that could hurt her if he wanted to.

"Sam!" Bridget scolded.

"I improvised, now jump!" Samson instructed, showing the open vent.

"Oh, I am not going in there..." Georgette gagged once she saw what he was talking about.

"Just jump." Vincent said.

The group backed up and jumped when they could as the dogs barked menacingly to them. Oliver was about to jump, but the poodle bit him by his collar and held him up.

Georgette growled at that. "Let him GO!" she barked loudly, scratching all of the dogs by their noses, grabbed Oliver by his collar then and jumped with him.

"We're leaving, Larry!" Samson grabbed his snake friend to close the vent.

Unfortunately, the snake got stuck when the vent was closed. The dogs winced from their injured snouts but barked and growled. Eventually, Larry was able to sink through and join the others.


	8. Chapter 8

Nigel took out the torch as it still glowed and rode on Bridget's back so they could get around without hurting themselves.

"Everybody stay close together." Felicity advised.

"We will, Felicity." Estelle smiled.

"It's best so we don't get lost." Felicity replied.

Jenny carried Oliver in her arms again. "Oh, you came all this way just to save me, didn't you?"

"We were worried..." Oliver nuzzled against her face.

"Indeed, you are special to us." Georgette said.

"Oh, you guys are my best friends..." Jenny smiled fondly to her pets, putting one arm around Georgette and let the other carry Oliver.

"Yes, yes, we are." Georgette smiled.

Oliver purred as he nuzzled to Jenny.

"Where are we?" Kopa wondered.

"The sewers, one of the most disgusting place of them all." Akito said.

"Why's that?" Kopa wrinkled his nose.

"Trust us..." Estelle shuddered. "Blech..."

"Teensy question, Samson," Bridget spoke up. "With those dogs up there, why didn't you just do what you did in the wild? You know, lionize 'em or lionate them or lionify them?"

"I don't think those three words are real words." Vincent said.

"Whatever." Bridget rolled her emerald green eyes.

"I don't have time to fight dogs, Bridget," Samson defended. "We have to find Ryan, remember?"

"I just hope we don't get into anymore obstacles." Vincent said.

"So, what is a sewer anyway?" Kopa asked.

Samson looked around as they took a stop. "It appears to be a human bathing area."

"You mean you humans don't lick yourselves clean?" Nigel looked repulsed to Akito, Estelle, Vincent, Eloise, Jenny, and Felicity. "Disgusting!"

"We take baths and showers in a bathroom." Vincent said.

"Still hard to believe you're above us at the top of the food chain..." Kopa sighed a little.

"Same here." Bridget said.

Nigel's light died out, but he smacked it a few times and got it working again.

"Nigel, what are you hitting that with?" Akito asked.

"I don't know, but at least it works now." Nigel shrugged.

"All right, let's think of a plan to get out of here." Vincent suggested.

We should follow the water, it'll lead us to the ocean." Akito said.

"And then we find the lady with spikes." Samson concluded, seeing where that was going.

There was then a disturbing noise heard which alarmed them all.

"Okay, who is growling?" Felicity demanded.

The Pokemon shook their heads to show it was not them.

"Not me." Kopa said.

Nigel looked to see a couple of reptiles were with them and they growled, waking up then. The alligators growled and stalked over to the group.

"Smooth move, Nigel!" Larry scoffed. "Oh, boy, twins..."

"Look you two, we don't want any trouble." Akito said to the alligators.

"Okay, Sammy, hurry it up now, 'cuz these guys are seeming to have acid reflex or something!" Bridget panicked slightly as the alligators came closer and closer.

Kopa began to try to roar at the alligators.

"Everybody stay calm..." Samson told the others.

The alligators just roared again, glaring at them.

"You guys wouldn't happen to play musical instruments, would ya?" Vincent smiled nervously. "We haven't met him, but Dad told us about this one gator, Louis... Maybe you've heard of him? He plays the trumpet..."

This caught the alligators' attention.

"Um... Heheh..." Vincent chuckled nervously. "I dunno..."

"You know Louis?" one alligator asked.

"Just from the story Dad told us once." Estelle shrugged.

"Wait, is your dad Atticus Fudo?" The second alligator asked.

"Yeah." Akito, Estelle, and Vincent said then.

"He is also my uncle." Felicity added in, though quietly and shyly.

"You two know Grandpa?" Larvitar asked.

"You know, I was gonna say, it looks like you and your crew here are a little far from your borough." one of the alligators said.

The other alligator laughed to that. "Far from your borough! I love it."

"Look, we're trying to get to the Statue of Liberty, can you show us the way there?" Akito asked them.

"The what?" the alligators looked puzzled.

"Um, Nigel, help us out here." Jenny requested to the koala bear.

Nigel rolled his eyes slightly, he put one paw on his hip and held the torch up with the other.

"In the other hand." Akito said.

"I agree." Bridget added.

Nigel switched hands and posed again.

"And isn't she blue?" Larry spoke up.

"Green." the human kids corrected.

"I can't do blue or green." Nigel replied.

"Okay, now do the spikes on the head." Akito said.

Nigel then tried and waved his paw at the gators. The alligators then recognized what they were trying to ask them.

"The big female with the spikes on her melon!" the first alligator chuckled. "They're tourists!"

"Um, yeah, you could say that." Kopa said.

"All right, tourists, listen up," the second alligator spoke up. "Ya gotta get to Battery Park. First, take the Broadway culvert-"

"WHOA!" the first alligator stopped him right there. "Down the Broadway Culvert?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" the second alligator shrugged.

"They'd get lost at the sewage plant!"

"Get outta here!"

"What are you talkin' about?"

Eloise sighed. "And I thought Bruce and Bobby had problems."

"I think one of them is much more dumb than the other." Larvitar whispered.

"Ugh..." Georgette put her paws to her eyes in long-suffering. "I knew we should've just stayed at home with Winston..."

"Oh, come on, Georgette, at least we're back with Jenny." Oliver smiled.

"I suppose..." Georgette sighed, she was happy that Jenny was okay, but she was highly annoyed by the alligators.

"Are you guys gonna help us or not?" Eloise put her hands on her hips in irritation.

"Sure, just follow us." The first alligator said.

"We're one big happy family, aren't we?" the second alligator added. "Except for that guy there..."

Nigel felt like he was being singled out somehow.

"Alright, lead the way." Larvitar said.

"I apologize for Carmine," the first alligator said. "He never got over being flushed down the toilet. Follow me, 'cuz you bunch won't last ten minutes in this neighborhood. It's a jungle down here."

"I beg to differ." Kopa mumbled.

"Well, at least this isn't going to get annoying." Nigel whispered.

The alligators were about to walk off to lead them away.

"Stan, do you know who that is?" Carmine asked his friend.

"What? No." Stan replied.

"That's one of them talkin' kawana bears!" Carmine replied.

"Ohhh... How ya doin'?" Stan teased poor Nigel. "'I'm so cuddly, I like you'!"

"I spoke too soon." Nigel groaned.

The alligators laughed, but they kept leading the way for their new friends.

 _'Just hold on, Ryan, we're almost there.'_ Kopa thought to himself.

The alligators led them to a safe way around the sewer, hopefully no one would get hurt or lost. Georgette shuddered in disgust as they wandered around the sewers, this was indeed going to take a while.

* * *

 _ **The next morning at the Plaza Hotel...**_

Cornelia answered the phone at her desk? "Plaza Hotel?"

' _Hello, Cornelia.'_ a familiar voice replied.

"Oh, yes, hello, Ms. Fudo," Cornelia smiled once she heard the woman's voice. "Shall I patch you to the sixteenth fl-"

"Have you see Akito, Estelle, Vincent, or their Pokemon?" Mo asked.

Atticus merely shrugged as they came into the lobby.

Cornelia saw them and looked curious, she then shrugged it off, and pushed the button to send the call up to Eloise and Nanny's room in the hotel. She had not known what had become of Eloise. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Fudo, this is a surprise, your sister just called." she smiled to them.

"That's good to know, now, have the kids and their Pokemon come by here?" Mo asked.

"Not that I'm aware of, sorry..." Cornelia said to them.

Atticus and Mo got worried then, where could their children be?

Nanny came down to the lobby, looking very nervous herself. "Has anybody seen Eloise?" she asked everybody in the lobby. "Her mother is on the phone..."

"Elosie is-" Maxine was about to say, but her boss covered her mouth.

"Perhaps she's run away to join the circus?" Mr. Salamone suggested.

"I think I might know where she is." Atticus said.

"Of course you do..." Mo smiled in relaxation before freaking out again, due to being a mother. "But where!?"

"Inside voice please, Mrs. Fudo..." Mr. Salamone scolded.

"I will when I know my babies are okay!" Mo growled slightly then.

"If I know those kids, they're probably on another adventure, possibly to return Kopa to the Pridelands or trying to save a zoo animal from being sent to somewhere else." Atticus said.

"Oh, what an imagination your children have..." Mr. Salamone chuckled and walked away. "Good luck with that now... But seriously, isn't it nice and quiet around here without Eloise?"

Cornelia heard the phone ring and answered it again. "Hello?" she then flinched slightly from yelling. "Uh, Ms. Fudo, apparently Eloise is not here... Mr. Salamone thinks she's run away to join the circus..." she then heard yelling again and held out the phone to the hotel manager. "She wants to speak with you, sir."

"We'll leave you to that phone call." Atticus whispered.

"Hello, Ms. Fudo, how are you today?" Mr. Salamone greeted.

" _Hello, Alphonse..._ " Darla smiled peacefully at first as she was getting a manicure. " _Would you be as so kind to tell me **WHY MY DAUGHTER IS MISSING!?**_ " she then yelled, sounding like she used to when she was a spoiled brat of a child. Back when Darla was spoiled, Atticus and Mo wouldn't like this, but since Darla was now caring and kind and was now giving Mr. Salamone a hard time, they were okay with her yelling at him.

"Ms. Fudo, please calm down!" Mr. Salamone begged.

 _"How am I suppose to calm down when my daughter could be in danger?!"_ Darla yelled.

"Now, now..." Mr. Salamone chuckled nervously.

" _This is your fault..._ " Darla remarked.

"My fault!? I didn't do anything!" Mr. Salamone defended.

" _Exactly!_ " Darla pounded her free fist on the manicure table. " _Look, I know Urchin and I should be involved in our daughter's life, but until we work something out, she is **YOUR** responsibility!_ "

"She does make a point." Maxine said.

"You're fired." Mr. Salamone whispered sharply while nervously hanging onto Darla's words.

" _Alphonse, I am making a face..._ " Darla said as she had a dark smile. " _I never want to **MAKE IT AGAIN!**_ "

"Yes, ma'am!" Mr. Salamone saluted anxiously like Darla was a dictator now.

 _"You better hope my daughter is safe with my niece and nephews, which I'm sure she is, but if Eloise gets lost again and you don't know where she is, I might have to pull a few strings to make sure you find work elsewhere..."_ Darla threatened.

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Mr. Salamone said nervously.

* * *

"I don't want to have to call my daughter and she's not there!" Darla scowled before roughly hanging up.

The manicurist then took her other hand and started to apply hot pink nail polish to those fingernails. "Bad day, mon cherie?"

"Oui..." Darla firmly nodded.

"Well, I am sure it will get better soon." The manicurist said.

"They better hope so..." Darla sounded bitter.

* * *

Mr. Salamone hung up the phone.

"So, how was Ms. Fudo?" Cornelia smirked slightly, knowing that Darla would be full mad with him.

"We have got to find Eloise and her cousins immediately." Mr. Salamone said.

"Oh, don't worry, our kids are a lot tougher than they look, they're as street smart as they are book smart." Atticus reassured.

"Street smarts from me and book smarts from Atticus." Mo added.

"Well, let us hope that we can find them soon." Mr. Salamone said.

"For your sake." Mo couldn't help but tease.

* * *

Forte was freaking out since Felicity was gone, but Cherry didn't seem to be very worried or devastated like any normal mother would in this situation.

"Where could she be?!" Forte asked freaked out. "She could be anywhere!"

Cherry was at her typewriter with her latest novel in mind. "Do you _mind_!?"

"Our daughter is lost out there, aren't you worried about her!?" Forte got in his wife's face.

"She won't die," Cherry reminded him. "You bit her, remember?"

"But what if she drowns?!" Forte asked her.

"If she has the amulet King Triton and Ariel gave her, she'll be fine." Cherry tapped at the typewriter while blankly staring at the paper.

"Why are you so calm?!" Forte asked her.

"Take a chill pill..." Cherry said in total zen.

Forte shook her then, nearly shaking the glasses off her face. "Our only daughter is out there and in danger and all you can do is just sit there!"

"She's been through worse than this..." Cherry said to him. "And so have I. She'll be fine, besides, Misdreavus is looking after her and she's with her cousins."

"You better hope she's alright." Forte said.

"Are you threatening me?" Cherry asked, nonchalantly.

"Never mind." Forte said.

Simon started to scream from his bedroom.

"I'll get him..." Forte mumbled, walking away.

"That man worries too much..." Cherry scoffed as she continued to do her work at home.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Meanwhile, at the docks/pier...**_

The kids, animals, and Pokemon poked their heads out and smiled once they saw their new location.

"Are we in the right place?" Larry asked.

"Any place without two hilarious alligators seems a move in the right direction." Nigel replied as he rested on Bridget's neck.

"I think we're in the right place." Larvitar said.

"Akito, you see anything up there?" Vincent called to his brother.

"I sure do." Akito said seeing lots and lots of crates and the ocean and the Statue of Liberty.

* * *

The others climbed up to join him, seeing the Statue of Liberty herself.

"Now, we just have to find Ryan in the green box." Kopa remarked.

"Yeah, but it could be anywhere." Teddy said.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere," Samson spoke up, coming up with another plan. "So, I need you to-"

"Yeah," Larry interrupted him. "So we should shout out if we see a box that looks like the ones over there."

All of them then looked to the direction the snake was indicating.

"It hasn't left yet." Georgette noticed.

"We can make it!" Samson said as he grabbed Nigel and threw him on his back. "Let's go!"

"Come on, guys!" Eloise told the others.

"Yeah!" They all agreed.

They all hopped down and rushed to get to work. They looked around and looked steadily and carefully for the green box that took Ryan away. There were green boxes on both sides however and they couldn't be sure which way was the right way.

"Oh, come on! Why can't it ever be easy?!" Larvitar groaned.

"Just run!" Teddy replied as he held Estelle's hand while he ran.

"NO!" Samson cried once they got to the end and a boat was going off with a box. "Ryan's on that thing! We've got to stop it!"

"But how?" Kopa wondered.

Samson tried to jump into the water, but Larry held him back with his coils.

"How can we save Ryan now?" Kopa asked.

"I failed..." Samson hung his head. "Again..."

"I only count one failure," Nigel soothed. "It's big, but it's just one."

"Goodbye, Ryan!" Larry waved his tail. "We're gonna miss ya!"

"Well, at least things can't get any worse." Vincent said.

Suddenly, the part they were all standing on was moving across the water.

"What the heck!?" Oliver felt nervous about that.

"What on Earth is going on!?" Nigel added, trying to keep his balance.

"Oh, no, guys, I think we're on a boat." Akito said.

A man was driving, completely unaware of his stowaways.

"It's a human and I do not think he works for the zoo and the kids don't seem to know him." Bridget commented.

"Perhaps now is a good time to 'improvise'." Nigel hinted, pointing down to Samson's tail.

"What?" Samson asked.

"Sorry about this." Kopa said before biting down hard on the lion's tail.

This made Samson roar viciously from the pain. The human man heard that and it made him so overwhelmed that he threw himself overboard.

"Great, one problem down..." Nigel remarked.

"Far out..." Larry looked entranced by the spinning helm and wrapped his tail around it which made him spin wildly and crazily.

"One disaster to go..." Kopa then finished with his paw to his face.

"Quick, one of us will have to steer the wheel!" Akito told the rest of the kids.

Felicity was on the end of the boat, taking deep breaths as her stomach churned.

"I'm older." Vincent volunteered himself, taking the helm.

"Do you know how to drive a boat?" Jenny asked him.

"It can't be any different than driving a car." Vincent said.

"You've driven a car!?" Jenny gaped at him.

"Let me handle this." Vincent said to her, he didn't mean to be rude, but he really had to concentrate right now.

There were many large blaring boats in the water and Vincent did his best to steer away from them.

"Let us all pray that we all survive." Felicity said.

"I didn't know you were religious." Estelle looked to her.

"Neither did I." Felicity said.

The animals and Pokemon screamed, but Vincent missed one boat and was abotu to miss the other.

"Get out of the way!" Vincent gripped onto the snake as he was blubbering.

"Quick, Larry, do what you did before!" Akito told the snake.

"Do what?" Larry asked him.

"Whatever you did, just the opposite!" Akito instructed.

"But I don't know my opposites!" Larry frowned.

"We're going to crash!" Larvitar yelled.

"Hang on!" Vincent called as he steered with Larry still on the helm.

They bumped against the other boat, but did not crash. They lost a few tires though.

"Hey, I think I've got it!" Vincent smiled in victory.

"Whew, we survived!" the Fudo twins cheered.

"Well, that was easy," Nigel smiled, then winced slightly at a mess that was now on the floor. "Oh, dear, has anyone got eucalyptus wipes?"

Oliver looked out at the back as New York City was drawing farther and farther away.

"Okay, now, where's the boat that Ryan is on?" Larvitar asked.

"All I can see is the ocean." Jenny said as they looked out somewhere beyond the sea.

"Oh, look, a flock of geese!" Vulpix looked up in the sky.

"Maybe they can help us." Akito said.

The geese already seemed to be landing sharply for their direction.

"We should head away from the sun." Samson told Vincent.

"No, towards the sun," Nigel suggested. "To the north. Starboard... Leftboard. Just follow my finger."

"Please," Bridget scoffed. "You guys wouldn't know the answer if it fell from the sky and hit you in the head."

"Something is about to hit on the head." Vulpix said, noticing the geese heading straight towards them.

"Oh, look, a squirrel." Larry said.

"Are you all right?" Bridget looked worried to her squirrel friend, he may had been a pain around her, but he was still her friend.

"Yes, my princess..." Benny smiled to her, though still in a daze from his fall.

"Benny, you made it." Kopa smiled to the squirrel.

"Of course I did, because friends and best friends should stick together," Benny smiled before glaring at Nigel. "And not so best friends who knock you off a speeding GARBAGE TRUCK!"

"Excuse me, but I begged them to go back and get you," Nigel said in defense after flinching. "Just so you know."

"Benny, did you see the boat that had Ryan from up there?" Akito asked the squirrel.

"Well, it just so happens I saw it heading that way," Benny said, pointing the opposite way. "And we're in luck!"

"How's it goin', eh?" one goose greeted.

"Canadian geese!" Benny then announced with glee.

"That's great!" Estelle smiled. "That means we'll have a bird's eye view."

"Hey, birdie, okay," Nigel stepped forward. "Is it true that Canada has lax immigration policies for koalas?"

"I'll take it from here," Samson put his paw in front of Nigel's face to silence him. "My son's out there. We really need your help. Can you lead us to that boat?"

"Please." Teddy begged.

"No problem, eh?" one goose replied before flying off with his fellow geese. "Just follow us and Bob's your uncle. Try not to lag too far behind, eh?"

The three geese then joined their flock and led a way away.

"Wahoo! Ryan, here we come!" Kopa cheered.

"Hey, Benny," Samson whispered to the squirrel. "Thanks."

Benny shrugged with his arms folded.

"And FYI, Bridget was very concerned when you fell off the truck." Samson then quickly added.

"Hmm..." Benny smirked, he then slicked the fur on top of his head and ears back to look cool.

Bridget smiled as they were going to help Ryan, but the squirrel demanded her attention now.

"Hey, bet ya didn't know I could ride geese, did you?" Benny smirked, slapping his hind leg.

"Oh, brother." Bridget groaned.

"That squirrel is just confusing." Larvitar said.

The geese formed a V shape in front of the boat's front window and Vincent took that as his cue to follow them.

"Kid?" Larry turned to Vincent. "We going to the wild now?"

"I think we are, Snake." Vincent told him.

Larry nodded and pushed against one handle to follow after the flying geese properly.

"I wonder if this will take us to Africa." Kopa said.

"We can only hope." Samson smiled with high hopes and confidence.

* * *

Vincent kept steering and following the geese, hoping very much they could make it to Africa and maybe even take Kopa back to Simba and Nala. However, it was starting to get dark, the sun was now setting and the moon came out, as well as a few storm clouds.

"Uh-Oh, storm up ahead." Vincent said.

"Oh, poor Ryan must be so frightened..." Felicity pouted.

"Well, he's lived in the zoo, of course this is all frightening for him." Vulpix said.

As the sun was down, the others were getting tired, but Vincent wanted to keep driving so they wouldn't crash.

"You should get some rest." Jenny said.

"But what if we crash?" Vincent asked nervously.

"Then we'll each take turns on the helm." Jenny said.

"Well... Okay..." Vincent said with a clearly exhausted yawn then.

"You've had a long day, let me take over." Jenny insisted.

"Okay, I guess I could take a rest." Vincent said.

Jenny smiled to him. "Sweet dreams."

Vincent smiled back, starting to fall asleep. Jenny let out a small yawn, but she took over the steering, not even caring that a 'slimy snake' like Larry was covering most of it. The rest of the boat ride to where the boat Ryan was in was going was a long trip. The human kids all took turns as the ride seemed to go on forever. It was really getting to Nigel and seemed to make him hallucinate.


	10. Chapter 10

"Is he okay?" Kopa asked.

"Must be a dry spell of some type..." Misdreavus diagnosed.

"If you don't give us ice cream pretty quick, you're gonna walk the plank, sir!" Nigel babbled, using his torch as a pirate sword as he was slowly losing his mind.

"Nigel..." Samson sighed.

"I don't care if I drown," Nigel continued. "I'm getting off this death cruise right now."

The boat then hit something and Nigel jumped overboard, believing it was an iceberg.

"Land, ho!" Jenny called like a sailor.

"No kidding." Vincent said.

"Nigel, are you okay?" Eloise called to the fallen koala bear.

"Look, I'm a starfish..." Nigel muffled as he had landed face first into the sand.

"Guys, look." Benny looked at the new land they were on.

"Gosh," Bridget said to Samson. "Must feel like a lifetime since you've been here."

"Yeah... A lifetime..." Samson muttered.

"This definitely isn't Africa." Kopa said.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Kopa..." Akito frowned.

"It's okay..." Kopa sighed.

"We'll get you home soon," Estelle promised. "We better find Ryan first though."

"Might as well start walking..." Eloise said, she took off her shoes though because they were unfit for walking through the sand, so she decided to go barefoot.

The larger boat wasn't too far from them which meant that Ryan was probably here by now.

"He must be close by." Akito said.

The animals and Pokemon took a look on the ship to look for Ryan.

"What the heck?" Samson was confused at the sight of the green boxes being sent with other humans and animals on a far side.

"Wow, look!" Larry grinned. "They're releasing the green boxes back into the wild."

"Um, if that's, so then why are there animals going into the green boxes?" Larvitar asked.

"He's right, they're putting animals _inside_ the green boxes," Benny observed as he sat on top of Bridget's head. "I just can't figure out why."

"It's a tunnel to another dimension," Nigel mumbled. "Can't you see?"

There were three young meerkats that were being forced as well. Estelle frowned since they were only babies and their mother was nowhere to be found.

"Well, maybe they're being put into those green boxes because of that." Vulpix said, pointing to an active volcano.

The others looked in fear and alarm over the volcano.

"Hang on a second," Bridget spoke up. "Either I'm starving or the fire fox is making sense."

"You're right..." Samson whispered, fearing the worst. "Those animals are being rescued."

Another green box was being lowered, that had to have been the one with the one they were looking for.

"Ryan's in that one." Teddy said.

Ryan busted his head through the green box and rushed off, passing the other animals, which had frightened them.

"Ryan?" Samson spotted and rushed after his son. "Ryan!"

Kopa decided to run after him.

The three meerkat kids ran off with the antelopes, elephants, and other giraffes. Luckily for the three meerkat kids, they bumped into the Fudo siblings.

"Are you all okay?" Estelle picked up the one female.

"I think so..." the female squeaked. "No thanks to my brothers!"

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" one male growled.

"Yes, you did, you always do!" the other male retorted.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Guys! Please stop fighting! Is that what Mom and Dad would want?" The female meerkat asked her brothers.

The meerkat brothers looked to each other and frowned.

"You guys look familiar..." Akito observed. "Does the name Timon mean anything to you?"

"You know Uncle Timon?" the female meerkat asked.

"We sure do, but we'll explain how we know him later, right now, we have to go and find our friend Ryan." Kopa said.

"Ryan?" the meerkat triplets asked.

"He's a lion cub like me." Kopa explained.

"Oh, he went thataway." one meerkat boy pointed to where Ryan was going.

"RYAN!" Samson called, unable to get to his son because of the iron gates, so he decided to go around the back.

"Thank you." Kopa said to the meerkats. He then chased with Samson into the wild, they both called Ryan's name, but he didn't seem to hear them.

"You guys don't seem like you belong here." Vincent said to the meerkat kids.

"We don't," the female meerkat spoke up. "We got here by accident."

"It was gonna be a joke, but then we got separated from our colony away from Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Uncle Max." one of the male meerkats added in.

"Yeah, one of your pranks that always fail!" the other male meerkat scolded.

"Well, we promise that we'll get you all back to Africa along with Kopa." Akito said.

The meerkat children smiled to their new heroes. "Thank you!" they all said to the Fudo siblings.

"So, who are you guys?" Estelle needed to know.

"Well, I'm Mishka." the female meerkat introduced.

"I'm Mabu!" the male meerkat with brown eyes added.

"My name is Monty," the other male meerkat with red eyes finished, trying to sound prim and proper. "How do you do?"

"How do you do what?" Vincent asked.

"Huh?" Monty asked him. "I'm afraid I don't follow..."

"Forgive Monty, he's a softy..." Mishka scoffed.

"At least I don't play pranks like a certain brother of ours!" Monty scowled at Mabu when he said that.

"Anyways, we better keep up or else we'll lose Ryan." Akito said.

The meerkat siblings then started to fight with each other.

"Stop it, you two!" Monty scolded. "It is juvenile and pointless!"

"She's right." Larvitar said.

"Thank you... Erm... Creature..." Monty said, not knowing what a Pokemon was.

"Come on, guys, we got a lot of looking to do," Felicity said as she wandered into the jungle of this island. "Is this Madagascar?" she then wondered.

"Not that I know of." Estelle said.

"Whatever it is, we have got to go and save Ryan!" Jenny urged.

* * *

Georgette huddled close to her young mistress.

"Oh, Georgette, have a sense of adventure..." Jenny encouraged her pet. "Don't you remember how worried you were when Mr. Fagin took Oliver away just so his boss could be happy with my piggy bank?"

"Um, well..." Georgette said. "You see, I, um, wasn't worried about Oliver at first."

"What!?" Jenny gaped at her poodle. "Why not?"

Georgette frowned. "Jenny, don't be mad, but... I didn't like Oliver when you first brought him home."

"What?!" Jenny asked. "Why didn't you like him?"

Georgette flinched, fearing that Jenny was angry with her now. "He was gonna steal you away from me!" she cried out dramatically. "I'm a full grown dog now, I'm not a puppy anymore, and he's a kitten, they're made of cute! Besides..." she then narrowed her eyes slightly, glaring to Oliver. "He ate out of _my_ bowl and broke into _my_ house eating on _my_ kitchen floor, and-"

"Georgette, I brought him inside and besides, after I adopted him, I gave him his own collar and his own bowl." Jenny told her.

Georgette harrumphed slightly. "You forgot all about me..."

"Georgette, he's only a kitten, kittens need lots of attention like babies," Jenny said to her poodle. "Look, I know it seems like I've ignored you after I asked Mom and Dad if I could keep Oliver, but he's only a baby and he needs me."

"Besides, no one else even wanted me when I was in a box with my brothers and sisters..." Oliver sniffled.

"A box?" Jenny looked back at him, a little horrified.

"Yeah, that's where me and my brothers and sisters lived in." Oliver told her.

"I didn't know you came from a box..." Jenny knelt by him.

"It's where I came from," Oliver explained from memory. "We were all going to be adopted the next day. Everyone took a kitten... All of my brothers and sisters... Except for me... And then it started to rain and I was all alone..."

Georgette then looked actually sorry for Oliver. "Oh, my goodness... I-If it makes you feel any better, I lost a sister myself... We were separated when we were very young... She lives somewhere called Birdwell Island."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." Oliver said.

"I promise, Georgette, we'll go there and find your sister." Jenny said.

Georgette rubbed her eyes. "I feel so emotional for some reason..."

"Yeah, you've looked really sick lately..." Vincent noticed. "Not just on the boat either."

Georgette shrugged.

* * *

The kids, animals, and Pokemon then wandered into the jungles of this island, trying to find Ryan, they called his name, but had trouble.

"Where could he be?" Kopa asked.

"RYAN!" Samson kept calling for his son, but it was nearly no use.

Benny scampered over to help Samson and Kopa find their fellow lion. Samson was beating himself up over the loss of Ryan.

"How are we going to find him now?" Larvitar asked,

"We have to use our instincts!" Kopa suggested.

"The kid's right!" Benny agreed with the cub.

"Right, use our instincts." Samson said.

"Instincts?" the Pokemon asked.

"A certain feeling you follow." Akito explained.

"Oh..." the Pokemon understood now.

"I just hope Ryan isn't hurt." Teddy pouted.

"Same here." Vulpix said.

"Wait, where's Bridget, Nigel, and Larry?" Eloise noticed the giraffe, koala bear, and snake were not with them.

"We must've left them behind..." Vincent groaned.

"Oh, boy..." Oliver muttered.

"It shouldn't take them long to catch up." Estelle said.

Soon enough, the three came, but they felt miserable in the wild already. Samson kept sniffing and hearing out for his son, but struggled.

"Everything's under control," Benny told the others as Samson and Kopa followed their instincts, and the Pokemon decided to help out too. "Temporary setback."

"Yeah, just a setback." Vincent said.

"I got something." Kopa spoke up.

"Me too, I got Ryan's scent." Samson added before he ran off first.

"They got it?" Benny asked, then looked to the others. "I mean, they got it! Let's go!"

"Wait for us!" Bridget called.

"I'm not designed for this!" Nigel was the slowest out of all of them. "I want a car."

"Misdreavus, give him a lift." Felicity told her ghost Pokemon.

"If I must." Misdreavus said.

Nigel was struggling until Misdreavus lifted him up his arms and floated with him in her grip so he could catch up with the others.

"Hey, guys, I found him!" Samson called as he stood in front of a bunch of bamboo. "Ryan!"

"That's not what I smell..." Kopa said to Samson.

"Kopa, will you let me handle this?" Samson looked to the cub. "You're just a cub and I'm a full grown lion, I think I know my son when I smell him."

"But that smell behind those bamboos is not a pleasant one." Kopa said while covering his nose.

"Ryan!" Samson pushed back the bamboo.

And where Kopa was right, it wasn't Ryan that they found, it was something else.

* * *

There was a rodent who was looking at a leaf, he then covered himself and looked very angry he was disturbed. " **DOESN'T ANYONE KNOCK ANYMORE!?** "

"Where's my son?" Samson asked the rodent. "Did he come through here?"

"Yeah, because we need to bring him home." Kopa added.

"Oh, yeah, I think I did see him." The rodent mocked.

"If you say that he's in where you did your business, then you are dead." Kopa threatened.

The rodent then looked to him, he was still angered, but he stopped himself right then and there. The others winced and were in total disgust of the smell.

"Funky," Georgette wrinkled her nose, feeling the most disgusted. "I was under the impression you had Ryan's scent, not this olfactory insult."

"I tried to tell him that it wasn't Ryan, but he didn't listen to me until we got the bamboos out of the way to see that I was right." Kopa said.

"I... I had Ryan's scent, but my predator instincts must've kicked in since, you know, I haven't eaten for a while." Samson seemed to be making up a story.

"Exactly!" Nigel grinned, shoving his torch against Benny and came to the rodent. "You never know when those instincts are gonna kick in. Excellent. Fantastic! We get to see the legend in action."

"I'd love to, but we just don't have time." Samson replied.

"And besides, he looks like he could make anyone's stomach unsettling." Kopa said.

"I do not think that even my mother would eat him..." Felicity added, her mother was known to eating rodents if she actually felt hungry enough before she would drink their blood.

"We got the time, guys," Nigel insisted as he roughed up the fowl-mouthed rodent and did demonstrations. "Just... And then you do this. And then this bit. Rip him apart!"

"Nigel! Every second we waste is how far Ryan gets." Kopa told the koala bear.

"Go on... One of you eat him..." Nigel shoved the rodent.

The rodent was now terrified of both Samson and Kopa.

"Just do it so we can get this over with." Larvitar said.

Samson picked up the rodent in his claw, very slowly and opened his mouth.

"Oh, I can't bear to watch!" Bridget cried, btu then smiled smoothly. "But I have to..."

Samson barely bit the rodent, but then dropped him hard on the ground. "Go on, get out of here."

"Yeah, you're not worth eating." Kopa said.

"The legend dropped his dinner." Bridget mumbled in disappointment.

"Oh, boy." Benny shrugged.

"Oh, come on!" the rodent seemed insulted that he wasn't eaten. "What's wrong, I'm not good enough for you to eat?"

"No, it's just that you're not big enough to even be called a meal." Kopa told the rodent.

"Now I get it," the rodent snapped. "You're gonna toy with me? Beat me up a little, then pounce when I get my hopes up? How exciting."

"You are just asking for one of us to kill you, aren't you?" Kopa asked.

"Come on, guys, let's just look for Ryan." Vulpix suggested.

"Agreed." Akito said.

"Look, it's just that I'm allergic to nuts." Samson glared to the rodent before they left.

"Yeah and I just don't want to get sick from you." Kopa told the rodent before joining Samson.

The rodent kept going on and on and as they left.

Felicity hissed which showed her fangs. "I will eat you..." she threatened.

This caused for the rodent to run for his life.

"Yeah, not so tough now, are you!?" Felicity scowled.

"Finally, now we can continue on." Kopa said.

* * *

"Samson, why didn't ya eat that guy?" Larry asked. "I thought wild lions ate fresh meat all the time!"

"If lions did that, then it would throw the Circle of Life out of balance." Kopa said.

"Um, yeah." Samson agreed with Kopa.

"But Samson, it wouldn't have gone off balance if we had gotten rid of one of those of animals back in the city." Kopa said.

"It seemed like you couldn't eat that hyrax." Bridget added.

"Yeah, and what about those dogs?" Nigel thought back.

"There was no munching there, either," Larry spoke up. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're-"

"A vegetarian?" Benny hopped up.

"No, no, no." Larry shook his head.

"It's almost like you're not from the wild." Teddy said to Samson.

Samson looked guilty for a moment.

"Samson, is that true?" Kopa asked, almost doubtful.

Samson sighed, he then looked a little angry and came out with it. "You're right... I'm not from the wild!"

Benny looked really shocked, he was the closest to Samson, so he felt shocked to not be told about this.

"I'm just a phony," Samson confessed to his friends. "Truth is, I can't protect you out here. Please just go back to the boat. I've got to find my son."

"You aren't going alone, I'm going to come with you to find him too." Kopa said.

"What can you do?" Samson looked back.

"Because I actually am from the wild!" Kopa reminded him firmly.

"Oh, right, lead the way." Samson said.

"Gladly..." Kopa said, slightly angry with Samson for not being honest.

They both then went off to find Ryan. Hopefully Ryan would be okay by the time they would find him.

"Well, that just happened." Vincent said with widened eyes.

"I am so hungry right now..." Felicity sounded weak.

"Why don't you catch something and drink its blood?" Akito suggested.

"I could never harm an innocent creature!" Felicity flailed. "I may be a vampire, but I would never harm anyone!"

"You all okay?" Estelle asked the animals.

"Just one moment." Bridget said before turning to the squirrel.

"I can't believe Samson would lie to us..." Benny sounded disappointed.

"But most animals are born and raised in circuses, the wild, and zoos." Akito told them.

"Yeah, but he told us he was a wild lion, he still lied to us," Bridget reminded before getting incredibly nervous. "Please tell me we're not in a dangerous jungle with an eight-inch squirrel protecting us."

"Don't worry, you still have us to protect you." Estelle smiled.

"We are going to die!" Nigel panicked.

The other animals then scurried around, freaking out.

"Stop that right now!" Eloise took charge, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, I may not know a lot about the wild, but I know my cousins better than anybody and we are all going to be just fine with them! Especially if Akito's in charge," she then gave an admirable smile to one of her cousins. "I've always looked up to you, you're like the big brother I never had."

"Thanks, Eloise." Akito smiled before looking serious.

Eloise smiled back.

"And I'll help." Benny came to Akito's side.

"We're gonna die!" Bridget screamed again.

"No, we're not!" Estelle screamed to make them stop.

"Just trust us, okay?" Jenny said to the zoo animals. "Samson and Kopa will find Ryan and we are not going to die in the wild... Man, I guess zoo animals really are a lot different than wild animals."

"Yes, yes, they are." Akito nodded.

"Never would've guessed..." Jenny shrugged.

Georgette and Oliver then came to Jenny's sides as comfort and protection. Jenny smiled to their pets and put her arms around them in a comforting way.

"Ooh..." Georgette felt a small pain in her stomach.

"Oh, my goodness..." Jenny looked worried for her poodle. "I think you need to visit the vet when we get home."

"Agreed." Georgette groaned.

"What's wrong with you anyway?" Oliver asked.

"My stomach is driving me crazy..." Georgette moaned. "Ugh... I'll tell ya, when I feel like this, I just wish I could be home in my big, warm bed..."

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here soon with Akito in charge." Jenny promised.

"Ahem!" Benny cleared his throat.

"Oh, and, uh, Benny." Jenny quickly added.

"Anyways, let's move out." Akito said.

* * *

Felicity looked really weak, her skin was paler than it normally was which made her look like she was white as sheep's cotton.

"Oh, Felicity, you really don't look so good..." Eloise frowned.

Misdreavus nuzzled against her trainer. "You need blood... Right now..."

"I could not take the blood of an innocent creature..." Felicity pouted. "It goes against everything I stand for..."

"You could suck the blood from that annoying animal from earlier." Vincent suggested.

"I suppose..." Felicity shrugged, looking very weak and faint. "Ooh... I really do not feel well right now..."

"You need blood." Estelle said.

"I am sure I will be... Oooh..." Felicity suddenly fell forward and collapsed onto the ground.

"She fainted!" Eloise gasped.

"Come on, let's just go back on the boat and find her some food." Bridget suggested as she still had Larry loosely around her neck so she wouldn't get strangled.

"She needs blood." Akito said.

"Well, she can't have koala blood!" Nigel stepped back in slight alarm.

"But, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Benny stopped his friends. "Where are you goin'? Stop right there! We got kids and their weird pets to worry about and Bridget, if you're going, I'm-" he tried to stop the female giraffe. "I'm breaking up with you!"

"We were never going out in the first place." Bridget got in the squirrel's face.

"Then... We're taking a break..." Benny shrugged.

"You guys can't leave!" Vulpix ran to the zoo animals.

"Vulpix is right." Vincent said.

"I'm sorry, but we must go." Nigel said, joining Bridget and Larry.

"Look, I know you're scared, but at least we got each other," Benny tried to stop them. "Sammy just has Kopa who's only a cub. But Ryan's out there too and he's all alone."

This made Bridget, Nigel, and Larry stop and think of Ryan then. Ryan was like a cub of their own since Samson was their friend and Ryan was like a son to them as well.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Meanwhile with Samson and Kopa...**_

"Now Samson, while we're in the wild, we'll have to stay together." Kopa said.

"Right..." Samson agreed. "We should also focus."

"Don't worry, we'll find him." Kopa promised.

"I mean, how big can this place be?" Samson asked as he pushed down a leaf and looked around to see the jungle was a lot bigger than he thought it was.

"Yeah the wild/jungle is a whole lot bigger than being in the zoo." Kopa said.

"RYAN!" Samson and Kopa then yelled.

Ryan, of course, could not hear them, he was just wandering around the jungle alone.

* * *

The human kids, Pokemon, and zoo animals were now looking around for Ryan in their own way and called for his name.

"I wasn't meant for the wild," Bridget sighed. "I was made to nibble and be elegant and to appear in a children's book as the letter G."

"Don't worry, the moment we find Ryan is the moment all of us can go home and where Kopa can go back to the Pridelands." Vincent said.

"Come on..." Nigel tried to sound adventurous. "It's just leaves, and vines, and... Aaah!" he then screamed, but then instantly calmed down. "Oh, that's my foot."

"Nigel, you and the Pokemon, and cat keep look-out back there." Benny suggested.

"I should be good at this," Oliver smiled. "I was a look-out before, Tito taught me."

"You got it, Benny." Teddy saluted.

"You too, Larry!" Akito added.

"Okey dokey!" the snake replied.

Bridget looked to Benny who then pretended to ignore her. "All right, I see, okay, yeah... You're giving me the silent treatment. Like I care."

"Nigel, I gave you an order," Benny glared at the back. "Would a little 'sir, yes, sir' kill ya?"

It was then suddenly silent.

"Oh, come on, really, Nigel?" Akito asked.

Estelle and Jenny looked back as they were holding Felicity's arms to help her walk through the forest.

"Gone!?" Vincent looked back.

Georgette, Oliver, the Pokemon, and Nigel were all gone.

"They're gone!" Jenny gasped.

"We're doomed!" Larry added. "First Ryan, then Samson and Kopa, and now Nigel, those Pokemon, kitten, and fluffy dog! Oh, I do believe in zoos..."

"Larry, you're tensing up!" Bridget gasped as Larry was strangling her by accident.

"Okay, let's just calm down, okay? Just calm down." Akito said.

"Don't panic," Benny added. "We're in charge here."

"That's why we're panicking!" Bridget yelped.

"I say we fan out and circle." Benny suggested.

"What are we, peacocks?" Bridget retorted. "We don't fan, we ran. Run for your lives, everybody!"

"Just calm down, none of us are going to die." Estelle assured her.

"Guys, I've got an idea," Larry spoke up before pointing to one side with his tail. "Why don't we ask them?"

Everybody turned to see a herd of wildebeest who looked slightly menacing.

"Uh, it's okay," Benny got nervous. "They, you see, got, uh, hooves... That means, they don't hurt, they grave."

The wildebeest snarled, licking their lips, and one of them came right over to the group of zoo animals and human children.

"You have absolutely no idea what wildebeests do." Akito said.

"Besides, they're licking their chops..." Bridget pointed out.

"Wildebeests don't eat meat!" Jenny retorted, then looked curious. "Don't they?"

The wildebeest herd kept coming for them.

"I have no idea." Eloise said.

"Larvitar, where are you!?" Akito groaned.

Benny tried to charge after the animals, but they knocked him down and nearly knocked him out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Nigel, Georgette, Oliver, and the Pokemon were being carried by other wildebeests.

"Where are we?" Larvitar groaned.

"Oh, um, excuse me," Nigel looked down to the animal carrying him. "But, um, do you speak Koala, Cat, Dog, or Pokemon?"

The wildebeest just snorted in response.

"Wherever we are, I'm in paradise now..." Georgette smiled that someone was carrying her around like a goddess.

They were being brought closer and closer to a volcano.

"I wouldn't want to feel that way for long." Oliver said with wide eyes.

"Oh, no..." Georgette looked worried now. "Um, hey, could you do us a favor and not take us there?"

The wildebeests ignored that and kept walking with their hostages.

"I agree." Nigel said to Oliver.

They were carried further and further as there was music heard.

"What a strange place for a party..." Nigel trembled.

* * *

Inside the volcano housed numerous wildebeests who looked to their guests in stunned silence.

"Um, hello." Vulpix waved.

"Erm... Could I use your toilet?" Nigel asked.

No one answered that question and the wildebeests randomly started to sing. They were even dancing in a rather creepy kind of way. They then started to say Nigel's plush toy's catchphrase.

"This is officially the weirdest day of my life..." Misdreavus muttered.

"Yeah and why are they singing an annoying song?" Vulpix asked.

"Beats the stuffing out of me." Teddy pouted, really missing Estelle right now.

One wildebeest came up and snorted.

Nigel yelled and flinched. "What is that...?"

"I am Kazar," the wildebeest who seemed to be in charge informed. "Leader, prophet, choreographer, and with your help... Carnivore!"

"No, don't kill us!" Georgette panicked. "I've had such a wonderful life with the lap of luxury, it's just not fair!"

"Please don't eat us!" Teddyursa begged.

The wildebeests did not eat or harm them, they actually bowed to the Pokemon, koala bear, kitten, and full grown poodle and chanted to them.

"Oh, I get it," Nigel smiled in relief. "A yoga retreat!"

"Did somebody say yoga?" Georgette asked eagerly before she demonstrated some moves.

Oliver rolled his eyes and put his paw to his face, shaking his head.


	12. Chapter 12

Samson and Kopa were now still trying to look for Ryan, feeling really bad and worried for the lost zoo cub.

"Where could he be?" Kopa asked himself.

"Ryan!" Samson continued to call and sighed whenever he couldn't get an answer back.

"Follow your instincts..." a voice whispered.

Samson and Kopa looked around, but found no one. When they looked ahead, a green plant changed into a red color with yellow polka dots.

"What the heck?!" Kopa asked completely confused.

"Follow your instincts..." the whisper came back.

Samson walked up to the plant, looking bewildered. He then took a sniff until the plant suddenly became green again.

Kopa looked around and saw a tree suddenly have red stripes around it like a candy cane. "This is bizarre..." he muttered.

A nearby tree changed into a blue color with bright red violet leaves.

"This never happened in the Pridelands." Kopa said.

"So, you don't know what's happening?" Samson asked.

"Sorry, sir..." Kopa sighed. "This is just as weird for me as it is for you."

"Great..." Samson muttered.

* * *

 ** _Back in the volcano..._**

The wildebeests had fallen asleep.

"Let's get out of here while we still can." Nigel whispered.

Kazar looked to them which made them all freeze in their spots. "For centuries we've watched our brethren perish at the claw of the lion," he stated, going to the group of non-wildebeests. "Today, we put our hooves down. No longer will we dwell at the bottom of the food chain."

"That's nice, but we really must get going." Oliver chuckled nervously.

"There were those who doubted that you'd arrive to lead us," Kazar continued. "But I always believed in the Omen."

"Ah, omen, right..." Nigel nodded like he knew what Kazar was talking about. "Now, remind me again so these children can learn too?"

"Sent down by the gods, years ago." Kazar explained.

The other wildebeests then backed up to show one of Nigel's plush toys in a Central Park Zoo T-Shirt with leaves on his head like the Statue of Liberty's spikes.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Nigel exclaimed.

"From the gods, huh?" Larvitar muttered. "You sure a plane didn't drop it or something?"

"Yeah, because that's just a toy." Vulpix said.

"It was a sign," Kazar said before kneeling in front of the toy. "Oh, Great Him, you must lead us in our transformation from prey to predator."

"Hold it," Nigel spoke up. "I am the Great Him?"

"Yes, and these other creatures are clearly your loyal followers." Kazar nodded.

Nigel stormed over to the plush toy that was the vain of his existence. "Ha! So this is all your fault. That's right, you-" he was then about to hit the toy with his torch.

"Kazar!" a voice cawed.

"Who was that?" Larvitar asked.

There came in two flying vultures. They both seemed to be fighting for the head wildebeest's attention.

Kazar strangled the one closer to him. "How dare you interrupt my audience with the Great Him!" he scolded.

"But... But... We found a lion cub!" the vulture choked.

"You did?" Kazar asked, interested.

"Was he with a big lion?" Nigel asked. "With big hair? Well, a mullet really..."

"Did he have a tuft of brown fur on top of his head?" Vulpix added.

"Oh, Great Him," Kazar spoke to the koala bear. "You brought three lions with you?"

"Well, like any Great Him, I travel with an entourage." Nigel gave a small innocent shrug.

"Yeah, so anyway, we'll be leaving." Larvitar said.

"Oh, worry not, friend of His Himness," Kazar looked to his lackeys. "I shall have Blag bring the lions here, and he better not screw this up like he screwed up my dance number!"

"I lost count for once verse." the strongest wildebeest, Blag, defended.

"Step-kick, pivot-kick, walk, walk, walk," Kazar told him while demonstrating. "Ugh, why do we even bother rehearsing?"

Oliver and Georgette looked to that, then to each other in awkward silence, then looked back at the wildebeests.

"A good chorus line is so hard to put together." Kazar chuckled.

"So it is." Oliver smiled nervously.

"Take to the skies!" Kazar commanded his vulture minions.

"We're taking, we're taking!" the vultures then flew off as commanded.

Kazar then turned to Blag. "Find them!"

"Yes, sir." Blag replied before going off.

"Bring us those LIONS!" Kazar yelled, making the volcano rumble slightly and leave an echo from his yelling.

"Whoa! This volcano feels like it's about to errupt." Vulpix said.

"Don't worry," Kazar told him. "The gods celebrate the fulfillment of the prophecy! We stamp our hooves in praise of the Great Him!"

"Holy, moly!" Nigel exclaimed.

This made the wildebeests then chant what he just said since he was a god to them.

"You are our king." Kazar bowed to the koala bear.

Nigel chuckled to this and started to laugh rather evilly, he was going to enjoy this very much.

"Nigel, are you actually liking this?!" Vulpix asked.

"I think the power's gonna go to his head." Teddyursa was even more scared now.

* * *

Meanwhile, Samson and Kopa continued their search.

There was a distant call heard.

"Ryan!" Samson cried, then immediately ran to the direction of the call. "I'm coming, son!"

"Now that's the Samson of the Wild I've heard about!" Kopa smiled to Samson's determination and ran after him.

* * *

They continued to run until they found Ryan and his paw trapped under a branch. Samson roared once he saw vultures were at his son.

"Dad?" Ryan wondered.

The vultures were afraid of Samson since he was an adult lion and they flew away like cowards.

"That's right, fly away, you cowards!" Kopa yelled.

"Ryan?" Samson found his son and hugged him with a frontal paw. "Oh, Ryan..."

"Dad, Kopa?" Ryan asked in surprise. "What're you guys doing here?"

"What do you think? We're here to rescue you and get you back to the zoo." Kopa said.

"I can't believe we found you." Samson smiled.

"How'd you find me?" Ryan asked his father and new friend.

"Are you all right?" Samson checked for any scars or bruises. "Are you hurt?"

"Oh, no, your paw's caught!" Kopa noticed.

"Let's get that off." Samson said.

"I got trapped in that green box." Ryan frowned.

"It's okay, son." Samson soothed, moving the branch off.

"And then I escaped and ran into the jungle-" Ryan continued about his wild story.

"Ryan." Samson tried to stop him.

"And then those vultures came and tried to kill me!" Ryan went on before nuzzling his father. "I mean, you wouldn't have been scared... I was..."

"Ryan, I, uh..." Samson remembered something his son needed to find out. "I have to tell you something."

"Yeah, and it's very important." Kopa said.

"What?" Ryan asked them.

There was suddenly rustling heard.

Samson shushed the cubs so he could hear what it was. "Listen..."

There came a bunch of wildebeests out at them.

"Get 'em, Dad!" Ryan cheered for his father.

"Run!" Samson told him instead.

"Huh?" Ryan was confused why his dad would say that and not fight the animals back.

"I agree." Kopa said.

"RUN!" Samson told the cubs.

With that, Samson, Kopa, and Ryan then ran from the wildebeests. This made Kopa think of a story Rafiki once told him about when Simba was very young, he just hoped the same thing wouldn't happen to the three of them.

"Dad, you should be chasing them like you used to!" Ryan told his father.

"Those were just stories!" Samson told him back.

"Yeah, now keep running!" Kopa exclaimed.

"But this is my dad's chance to show us for real!" Ryan insisted.

"This way!" Samson panted once he found a shortcut.

The three lions went that way and the wildebeests had gone straight after they turned.

"Dad?" Ryan was curious. "What's goin' on?"

"Not right now, just climb!" Kopa told him.

Samson shoved the cubs up first. Ryan and Kopa then started to climb up the best they could. Once they got to a branch, Samson climbed after them. He had a harder time since he was older, but he made it up.

"Whew!" Samson breathed in relief. "I think we lost 'em."

"What's the deal?" Ryan demanded. "They're just a bunch of wimpy donkeys! You could kick their rumps!" he then called out to the wildebeest herd. "You donkey-chickens, get back here!"

"Ryan, I can't fight them." Samson admitted.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

Kopa urged for Samson to come clean.

Samson saw this and took a deep breath. "I was young... Still just a cub... I was actually a circus lion."

Ryan looked shocked.

"A circus lion?" Kopa asked.

"I was a lot like Ryan," Samson explained. "I couldn't roar... When they shipped me to the zoo, I never wanted anyone to know where I came from. Especially those closest to me," he then looked to his son. "I should have told you sooner."

"But... All those stories you tell." Ryan prompted.

"I'm so sorry, Ryan." Samson hung his head, he then held out his paw to hug his boy.

"Everything you told me was a lie?" Ryan grew heartbroken.

"Ryan, I understand that you're heartbroken and hurt that you're dad lied, but he just wanted you to look up to him. Right, sir?" Kopa asked Samson.

"Exactly, I-" Samson was about to say, but there was thumping.

The tree was being hit and Samson was nearly falling out of the tree.

"Dad!" Ryan cried.

"Hang on, son!" Samson called back.

Ryan was knocked to the end of the branch with Kopa and they both fell flat on the ground.

"Leave him alone!" Kopa growled.

The tree was still hit at and the tree was nearly off the rock ledge now.

"Ryan, Kopa, run!" Samson told the young cubs.

Ryan and Kopa looked to each other and decided to go against the wildebeests who were trying to knock down Samson, but they could not, because their tails were being held down.

"Not so fast, Tigger." Blag had his hoof on their tail tips.

"Leave him alone!" Kopa exclaimed before clawing at the wildebeest.

The other wildebeest made the tree fall.

" **RYAN!** " Samson yelled out.

"DAD!" Ryan cried for his father.

"Oh, a tough guy, huh?" Blag glared back at Kopa.

"I'm warning you one last time, leave him alone!" Kopa exclaimed before biting Blag's leg.

Blag yelped out in pain and glared to Kopa. "Why you little-You are both coming with me!"

"Never!" Kopa muffled.

"DAD! HELP US!" Ryan yelped.

Samson tried to save his son and Kopa. He could not move though, he blacked out because the fall gave him a headache.

"Your going to pay for that." Kola growled.

Blag just laughed at him.


	13. Chapter 13

Akito came to a part of the woods and found the squirrel. "Benny, there you are!"

"Akito?" Benny asked as he looked lost. "What're you doing here?"

"What happened to you?" Akito asked back.

"I don't wanna talk about it..." Benny shuddered.

"Um, okay?" Akito said, confused.

"I'm trying to look for the others, but Samson and Kopa are in trouble too!" Benny sounded paranoid.

"Okay, calm down..." Akito picked Benny up in his hands and gently patted him on the back.

"Wait!" Benny looked ahead and saw a tree with an adult male lion underneath it. "SAM!"

"Maybe he's just unconscious." Akito shrugged.

"Yeah!" Benny cheered once they got right back on track. "Nothing's gonna stop us! Except that We have no idea where we're going..."

 ** _"Follow your instincts..."_** a voice whispered again.

A tree branch was shaking slightly and colorful lights with an arrow pointing one way suddenly appeared.

"Whoa!" Benny flinched, both scared and delighted. "What is that?"

"My, uh, instincts?" Samson smiled bashfully.

"Well then, let's follow it." Akito said.

 _ **'You're almost there...'** _ the voice whispered as they got to a new stop.

They came onto a rock with orange, red, and blue patterns that looked very psychedelic. They stopped though and were gone, unsure of where else to go.

"Well, that settles it," Benny muttered. "My mother definitely drank pool water when she was pregnant with me."

Samson looked ahead to see wildebeests. "Benny, look."

"The wildebeests." Akito said.

"Ryan's in there." Samson growled, he knew Kopa was in danger too, but Ryan was his son after all.

"Whoa, whoa!" Benny stopped the strong boy and adult male lion. "You can't just barge in, that's suicide!"

"Benny, get out of my way!" Samson snarled at his squirrel best friend.

 ** _'Don't listen to the rat...'_** the voice whispered.

"Hey, who you callin' a rat!?" Benny heard that.

 ** _'You, of course.'_** the voice said.

 ** _'You'll give away our position!'_** another voice scolded the other.

"Okay, come out, whoever you two are!" Akito told the two voices.

The two voices argued until suddenly, two lizard like creatures appeared right in front of them and got into a fight.

"Men, scatter!" one of them commanded.

This made several more appear around them and run away.

"Not so fast," Benny picked up the two creatures. "Look who I got, Sammy, it's your lion instincts."

"No, those are chameleons like Espio." Akito said.

"Who are you guys?" Samson asked the animals.

"Our names aren't important." one chameleon grew stubborn.

"I'm Cloak, and he's Camo." the other chameleon revealed anyway.

"You're not very bright." Akito said to Cloak.

"We're covert agents." Cloak said to him.

Camo then smacked Cloak in the face with his tongue.

"Why've you been leading me around?" Samson demanded.

"That's classified." Camo said.

"Hush-Hush." Cloak added.

"It's a secret."

"'Cuz the wildebeests have gone mad." Cloak revealed again.

"Cloak!" Camo shoved him again.

"It's not like I told them our plan is to use them to defeat Kazar's-" Cloak was about to say before Camo smacked him with his legs.

"Is he a new recruit?" Akito asked Camo.

"Don't get me started..." Camo grumbled.

"Listen, just tell me," Samson glanced at the chameleons. "Did they take my son and his friend in there?"

"That's need-to-know." Camo ignored him.

"They did," Cloak told them before getting smacked yet again. "And they think the koala's a god and those other animals with him are his followers."

"You are the worst covert agent ever!" Camo scolded.

The chameleons started to fight again until Cloak summoned more chameleons to attack Benny and Akito.

"Seriously?" Akito asked.

The chameleons surrounded Benny and turned him into yellow and purple stripes.

Akito shook off the chameleons that latched onto him. "Back off!"

Benny kept changing colors from the chameleons. One was red, yellow, blue, and green splotches, then a spring green with texture of orange, blue, and yellow, then a design with red violet, a teal color, yellow, and orange. One design came hot red with green and yellow squares. After that, the squirrel was a sea blue with colorful spots. Camo barked commands to stop Cloak's coloring of the squirrel.

"Stop, no more!" Cloak commanded.

"Oh, show him top-secret no more?" Camo smirked. "Gotcha."

With that, Benny turned invisible with the chameleons.

"Cool... Wait, that gives me an idea." Akito smiled.

"Really now?" Samson smiled at the human boy.

"Yeah, just follow my lead." Akito smirked to the adult male lion.


	14. Chapter 14

Meanwhile, back in the volcano...

The wildebeests were leading the giraffe, snake, human kids, and two lion cubs to meet their god.

"Oh, who is this Great Him anyway?" Bridget scoffed. "I'll take him on. I'm the Great Her! I'll show Him a thing or two! I mean, I'm from New York City for Pete's sake!"

"Well, whoever the Great Him is, we'll have to overpower him." Vincent said.

The wildebeests started to chant as they got closer.

"If you hurt my animals, I'll have you taken care of!" Jenny looked angry, which was odd since she never really got angry, but boy, did it look scary on a nice girl like her.

"My mother is a very important person, she will not be happy if you hurt us to this Great Him!" Eloise added firmly.

"Yeah, and our brother and dad will hurt you all severely if you try to hurt us and once our cousin wakes up, you're all doomed!" Estelle and Vincent glared.

The wildebeests laughed at their threats.

* * *

They came up to a rock shaped like the koala plush toy they all admired.

Ryan recognized it. "That looks like Nigel." he whispered to Kopa.

Kopa nodded in agreement. Nigel did in fact come out with his torch and a pineapple on top of his head and he did a Statue of Liberty pose to please his wildebeest followers.

"You have got to be kidding." Vincent groaned.

"My sentiments exactly." Bridget added.

Nigel was walking out royally as the wildebeests gazed upon him in unworthiness and bowed.

"Nigel, we don't know what you're trying to pull, but we will kick your-" Estelle whispered sharply.

"Silence!" Nigel hit her head with his torch.

"You did _not_ just hurt _my_ sister!" Vincent got angry.

"Silence again!" Nigel then hit his head.

"Listen, Nigel, even if you are an animal and our friend, it doesn't mean we won't use our powers on you." Vincent glared.

"You do not speak to me!" Nigel scolded the human kids.

"Nigel, what's the deal?" Ryan glanced at his koala bear best friend.

"Great Him," Kazar spoke up freely. "Shall we prepare the feast?"

"Yes, we shall!" Nigel proclaimed, then looked curious. "What's on the menu?"

"Them." Kazar gestured to the human kids, lion cubs, giraffe, and snake.

"Say what now?!" Kopa asked out of shock.

"Oh, no..." Nigel was in a dilemma before his torch light went out due to being on for so long. "Eat friends and be god, don't eat friends... God, friends, god, friends..."

"Prepare the meat fire!" Kazar commanded.

Two wildebeests pushed a rock over and flames hissed and crackled, frightening the human kids, lion cubs, snake, and giraffe.

"Wait!" Nigel called to his 'followers'. "We cannot cook them without... Uh... Onion!"

"Onions!" the wildebeests chanted.

One wildebeest had an onion on his horn and tossed it into the fire.

"Well, that was fast." Nigel said before the Pokemon, Georgette, and Oliver appeared.

"Let the ritual begin." Kazar commanded.

The wildebeests then forced the human kids, lion cubs, giraffe, and snake to move.

"Wait, you can't sacrifice them!" Vulpix told the wildebeests.

The wildebeests glanced at the fire fox Pokemon.

"He's right!" Nigel spoke up nervously. "Well, we also need, uh, hats!"

The wildebeests looked to each other then back to the koala bear.

"Not what I was going with but okay..." Vulpix muttered.

"Do we not have the party hats of death?" Nigel smiled sheepishly. "I've got mine! And before the feast, we must all..." he then suddenly slipped and somehow hovered in the air and spun into the air, making him feel rather sick.

The wildebeests cheered to this.

"What's going on?" Larvitar asked.

"I come from a supernatural household and that is totally paranormal!" Misdreavus did not like this.

"How do I stop this thing!?" Nigel cried.

* * *

"Guys." Benny came over to the others with Akito.

"Benny?" the others asked in surprise.

"Look, a squirrel!" Larry smiled.

"Larry." Bridget glared at the snake.

"What's going on?" Estelle asked.

The Pokemon, Georgette, and Oliver then came over to their owners/trainers. Jenny hugged Georgette and Oliver once she saw them. Vulpix cuddled with her too, but of course, came closer to Vincent since he lived with the boy after all and Jenny lived far away. Estelle hugged her Teddyursa as he was crying to see her again.

"We've got a plan," Akito told the others. "Follow us."

The others then followed the boy and squirrel as Nigel was distracting the wildebeests with his sudden flying abilities.

"Oh, Great Him, we are humble with your power." Kazar told the koala bear.

 _'Those guys are easily impressed.'_ Akito thought to himself.

Nigel didn't know how it was working either, but went along with it. However, steam rose which made the chameleons appear and freak out, revealing themselves as Samson was actually hovering Nigel around everywhere. The wildebeests were not amused or impressed now.

"Oh, boy..." Samson moaned once he had been found out.

"Well, 'bout time you got here," Nigel said to his lion friend.

"Oh, Great Him, another miracle!" Kazar praised. "You've delivered us a real lion!"

"Oh, um, of course, when the Great Him delivers, he delivers in person." Nigel said.

"Blag, your luck has turned," Kazar told his minion. "Thanks to the Great Him, we shall all ascend tonight."

"Nigel, we've got to create a distraction." Samson whispered.

Nigel agreed, he mustered as much courage as he could once he hopped down from Samson's head. "Hang on a sec! I've got miracles coming out of my ears! Ready? Stand back as the Great Me attacks the lion over 73 times my size!" he then waved his torch like it was a weapon.

* * *

Benny and Akito kept leading the others away as Nigel tried to look menacing.

"Wait, what did Nigel just say?" Kopa asked.

"Dad?" Ryan turned his head. "My dad's alive! Guys, my dad made it!"

"Ryan, no!" Benny tried to stop the cub.

Ryan ignored that, he was going to reunite with his father. Nigel came onto Samson's head and was hitting him with his torch.

"His dad's alive!" Kopa smiled.

"Dad!" Ryan ran over with Kopa.

"Ryan!" Samson smiled in delight, but accidentally knocked Nigel off his back.

The wildebeests gasped for the koala bear.

"I planned this..." Nigel groaned from his fall.

Ryan and Kopa glared at the wildebeests and decided to roar at them to scare them off. Unfortunately, Ryan's roar still sounded like a strangled cat which made Kazar laugh.

"That, um, was close." Kopa said with a nervous smile.

The wildebeests surrounded the three lions.

"At long last, the cosmic balance has shifted," Kazar sounded evil. "Prey has become predator and predator has become prey! And the hoof finally trumps the claw!"

"Come on, guys," Ryan looked to his father and new friend. "Let's show these turkey-jerkies who's at the top of the food chain!"

"Let's eat the brats first." Kazar grumbled.

Ryan and Kopa looked nervous.

"Over my dead body!" Samson growled before charging to the wildebeests.

"Go, Samson!" Kopa cheered.

Samson charged for Kazar. Kazar shook a little and flung Samson right off from his face. Kazar looked rather menacing, but Samson had to fight, he was going to be a wild lion from then on. Samson even went so far as to swipe a horn off of Kazar's head and made it drop right in front of Kopa and Ryan. It was grotesquely awesome. Kazar rammed Samson onto his face and took him over to the lava pit and made the adult male lion now dangle for his life.

"He's gonna kill Samson if we don't do something!" Benny panicked.

"Hey! I know, why don't we use the secret play?" Larry suggested.

This caused for the zoo animals, full grown poodle, orange kitten, Pokemon, and human kids to look at the snake, surprised that he had actually come up with a good idea.

"I know, 'Shut up, Larry'," the snake mistook their stunned silence for annoyance. "That's stupid..."

"No, it's brilliant!" Akito smiled. "You used your brain for once!"

"I did? Yay! I used my brain!" Larry cheered.

Samson struggled to get up as Kazar made him dangle.

"They laughed at me when I spoke of the Omen," Kazar taunted the adult male lion. "But look who's laughing now!" he then stomped on top of Samson's paw to loosen his grip.

Samson yelled out in pain. Ryan gasped, very worried for his father.

"Come on!" Kopa told his new friend.

* * *

The zoo animals were trying out their secret play like in the turtle-curling game back at the penguin exhibit in the zoo.

"A little bit to the left." Vincent told them.

"Yeah, no!" Benny helped. "Little to the right."

"Next floor, bottom of the food chain!" Kazar smiled evilly as Samson was nearly slipping now. "Ding!"

"Fire!" Akito commanded.

Nigel let go of the small boulder in Nigel's paws and let it fling off of Larry's tail, it hit the volcano top and smashed Kazar in the head and he fell backward. Samson glared and pulled himself up off the top as the volcano shook.

"We need something bigger." Akito said.

"We know where we can find something bigger." Ryan and Kopa came up to the group and informed them together in unison.

The others looked curious, but listened to the lion cubs as Samson was now fighting Kazar.

"Are you sure about this?" Jenny asked once they were getting ready to try the secret play with their 'something bigger'.

"Yes, we're sure." Kopa said.

"This better work..." Larvitar muttered.

"It will." Akito told his Pokemon. "Ready, you guys?"

"Dig deep." Ryan and Kopa said together as Bridget and Nigel were now holding them back.

"FIRE!" Benny called.

Ryan and Kopa were then both flung through the air and both were roaring like the carnivores they were born to be and tackled onto Kazar, attacking him instantly.

"That was perfect!" Akito cheered.

"Ryan!" Samson called.

Kazar tried to buck them off and eventually did, knocking the two lion cubs off and made them have a rough landing.

"Ryan!" Samson cried.

Kazar snarled, coming for Ryan and Kopa, panting from the fighting. "I don't typically eat dessert before the main course!"

"Get away from my son and his friend!" Samson snarled and tackled onto the lead wildebeest now, before suddenly getting pinned down.

"Go, Samson!" Akito cheered.

Samson kicked Kazar off and made him hit the rock wall and fall flat on the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

Kopa had blacked out, but he found himself back in the Pridelands when he opened his eyes. "A-Am I home...?" he wondered as he looked around and everything looked around. "Was it all just a dream...?"

"Hello, Prince Kopa..." an evil female voice came behind him.

Kopa turned around in worry to see a lioness he was not supposed to encounter. "ZIRA!" he then ran off as Zira laughed and chased him. "HEEEELP!"

Zira's laugh followed him until he ended to the end of a cliff and rolled down, and came between an elder lion couple who were not his parents.

"Grandma and Grandpa?" Kopa asked.

"Kopa..." the male lion spoke in a deep baritone that could keep anyone's attention and could easily intimidate the not-so innocent predator of the jungle to dare face the old, long deceased king.

"Grandpa..." Kopa was amazed that he was meeting his grandfather since he had died long before the cub was even born.

There was also a younger, though still older lioness with them.

"Kopa, you must help your friends, you must believe in yourself and look into your heart, that will also be your guide home," Sarabi said to the young lion cub.

"Yes, I will follow my heart." Kola nodded.

"I may not know you personally, but I trust you..." the other lioness said.

Kopa looked to her. "Who... Who are you though?"

"You are good friends with my cub and you have helped my mate see through the light of him revealing his true self to the boy..." the lioness put her paw on his head.

Kopa then remembered something Bridget had mentioned to him when they first met after he was sent to the zoo by those human men who came to the Pridelands. "You're Galena..." he then realized.

"Yes." The lioness smiled.

"What should I tell Ryan and Samson when I wake up?" Kopa asked.

"Believe in yourself and you can defeat the wildebeests who had already caused me a much worse harm than they will to you, Ryan, or Samson..." Mufasa told his grandson. "Remember who you are..."

"Your grandfather is right..." a dark-maned adult lion came to his brother's side.

"Great-Uncle Scar..." Kopa looked angry with his granduncle because of the story he was told.

"Don't worry, he isn't going to hurt anyone anymore," Sarabi soothed her grandson's anger. "Just remember what we told you, Kopa."

"I will, Grandfather." Kopa said.

"I know you will do what you know is right..." Mufasa's voice seemed to whisper. "Remember who you are..."

Kopa sniffled, he closed his eyes as he looked like he was about to cry.

* * *

Kopa then woke up and found himself back in the volcano.

"It's okay, Dad..." Ryan said softly as Samson was checking to see if the cubs were still alive. "I just want you to know, I'm sorry you didn't have a father like the one I have."

This actually touched the wildebeests. Well, all except for Kazar, of course.

"How touching..." the lead wildebeest scoffed.

Samson growled at him for ruining this heartwarming moment.

"But then, the last words usually are..." Kazar continued as he slowly stood up again. "Finish them!"

The wildebeests snarled, remembering their mission and came for the lions. Samson got up and was ready to fight them, however, to everyone's surprise, the wildebeests were actually going to their leader.

"Looks like they've chosen to attack you instead." Kopa smirked at the leader wildebeest.

Kazar glared at his herd. "I command you to attack them, like true predators!"

"We're tired of pretending to be something we're not," Blag snarled. "But most of all, we're tired of you."

'Like Great-Uncle Scar and the hyenas...' Kopa thought to himself slightly.

Another wildebeest came up, he had Nigel's doll in his mouth and threw it over in front of Kazar and it weakly squeaked.

"Blag... Fine..." Kazar mumbled before getting mean and nasty again. "I'll kill them myself!"

"We'd like to see you try." Kopa growled.

"You asked for it!" Kazar snarled, he dipped down and sharpened his horn before letting out a bellowing roar of his own.

"Dad!" Ryan cried.

Samson looked back.

"Remember what you always told me in your stories," Ryan coached. "Dig deep."

"Yeah," Kopa nodded. "Remember who you are."

Samson took note of that and looked ready to fight. Kazar was now rushing over to the adult male lion to teach him a lesson. Samson thought back to his circus days when he was a cub and let out a high, mighty, and ferocious roar at the wildebeest that nearly shook the whole volcano.

"That's incredible!" Akito smiled.

"Ohhh, yeeeahh, baby!" Benny smiled, but put his paws to his ears.

Samson was still roaring and it seemed to make Kazar move back from the force. Kazar gasped and looked nervous now. Samson then roared again and made Kazar smash against the rock formation of Nigel's plush doll.

"Whoa..." Ryan and Kopa were amazed at the adult male lion.

"That was amazing..." Kopa smiled.

"Why, thank you," Samson smiled, then noticed that the place was shaking. "Let's go." he then commanded.

"Yeah..." Ryan agreed. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

"And for the record," Blag gave a look to Kazar before going with the others. "I've always hated your choreography. It's so... '80's."

"Do you think he's still crazy or has he finally realized what's going on." Akito asked.

"That's right!" Kazar told the others. "Run!"

"Crazy." Larvitar said to his trainer.

"Run like the cowardly prey that you are!" Kazar continued. "I will hunt you down!" he then laughed rather loony like his mind had flew south for the winter.

"Everyone, get to the boat!" Kopa told the others.

"Top of the food chain, Ma!" Kazar really lost it now. "Top of the food chain!" he then fell from the plush doll's string that tied up his hind legs together.

"He's dead." Estelle said.

"Mama..." Teddyursa nuzzled to Estelle.

"Come here..." Estelle carried her little bear Pokemon and hugged him as they ran off.

The rock was now crushing on top of Kazar and they all made it out of the volcano just as it erupted.


	16. Chapter 16

The wildebeests decided to help their former enemies by getting the boat out of the sand and back into the water. Nigel barked orders since he was still technically in control of them.

"You can do it, guys!" Vulpix cheered.

The wildebeests gave one last push that they could give. The three meerkat children then rushed over and climbed aboard with them.

"Larry, throw it in reverse!" Vincent told the snake.

"Reverse throwing!" Larry saluted, slithering onto the helm.

The large group made it out into the water and they were escaping from the exploding volcano.

"Whew, close one." Kopa sighed.

"At least I got to see the wild before it disappeared." Ryan said as he looked back at the island.

"I can still see it, it's right-" Samson smiled.

"Here," Ryan pointed to his chest. "I found my roar!"

"We both did, son." Samson smiled, hugging Ryan.

Kopa smiled, though a little sadly since he was still away from his own family, but was glad that he got to have a substitute one for a little while and have a brotherly experience. "This'll be the first story of Samson and Ryan of the Wild." he told the father and son.

"I don't think anyone's gonna believe it." Samson chuckled.

There was another eruption and something was flying from the volcano mouth and about to hit them in the boat.

"Nigel, look out!" Eloise cried to the koala bear.

"Incoming!" Ryan and Kopa called out.

Nigel got hit by whatever fell from the volcano and it ended up in his paws.

 ** _'I'm so cuddly!'_**

It was the plush toy and somehow it still worked, but could only say the first part over and over.

"I know you're cuddly, but can you float?" Nigel grinned evilly and threw the doll into the water, he then joined the wildebeests in a song.

* * *

The boat was rocking slightly, but luckily, not too much as they were riding back to the Central Park Zoo. They were all now dancing. Cloak and Camo hit each other, but they had made Larry 'one of them' and he disguised himself as a flamenco girl and even had a fruit hat on.

"Bridget, I get it," Benny said to the female giraffe. "You're more than just a tall, lanky goddess. You're a strong, independent female. You don't need to be defined by your relationship and I, I respect that."

"It's about time." Bridget replied before kissing him right on the mouth.

Benny shuddered from the kiss. "What was that!?"

"Just your daily dose of Vitamin Bridget, baby..." the female giraffe smirked lustfully.

"Oh, yeah, yeah!" Benny jumped up to his crush, now that they were an official couple.

"I just knew that you two would hit it off." Estelle smiled.

"A giraffe and a squirrel... Um.. Good luck..." Jenny shrugged.

Blag started to break-dance for the other wildebeests. Samson then cut in and started to dance to show off some of his own moves. The Pokemon hugged their trainers once they reunited. Georgette was happy, but she had tears in her eyes and seemed emotional now other than being sick.

"Georgette, you can stop crying, it'll be okay." Oliver told his 'sister'.

"I know, but I just can't stop!" Georgette put her paws to her eyes as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Maybe the tears are out of joy." Oliver smiled.

Georgette kept crying. Oliver then nuzzled against the poodle to comfort her. Jenny smiled at that.

"This is going to be a long ride home..." Benny muttered about everybody dancing.

The boat continued on and on as they made their escape.

"Would you like me to make this trip much faster?" Akito asked the squirrel.

"Perhaps..." Benny shrugged. "This was fun and all, but I'd like to get back to my tree before my nuts freeze!"

"Alright, then we'll have to travel by air." Akito said before pressing the green button on his futuristic bracelet and appearing in his superhero suit and then flying up to the air and then flying under the boat.

* * *

The boat seemed to wade into the water until they suddenly got faster. Everybody held on tight the best that they could until they would make it back to New York City, hopefully all in one piece. And where luckily, they made it back to New York, in one piece.

"Oh, home sweet home!" the Pokemon, Georgette, and Oliver cheered.

"That was surprising." Benny said.

"We're full of surprises." The Fudo siblings laughed.

"Where do we go from here?" Jenny looked around as they were where they were before this whole adventure started.

"First, for the zoo animals, back to the zoo and then Kopa will be brought back to the Pridelands." Akito said after getting back up to the surface.

"Let's get you guys home." Kopa smiled.

"You mean... You're not staying?" Ryan frowned.

Kopa's smile then faded into a frown. "Oh, Ryan, I had a lot of fun with you and it was great to meet you, but... I really should go back to where I belong... And you do the same... I have to remember who I am..." he then said, unknowingly quoting his paternal grandfather.

"I understand." Ryan frowned.

Kopa hugged Ryan with one paw. "Never forget who you are... I'm sure we'll meet again sometime."

Ryan smiled and hugged back. "I hope you make it home safely."

Kopa smiled, they then let go of each other and Kopa gave a goodbye roar. Ryan then roared back, no longer having trouble with roaring, which made Samson very proud. Ryan then led the way home and the group wished them good luck on their way back to the zoo.

"Kopa, would you like me to fly you to the Pridelands?" Akito asked.

"If you think you can..." Kopa wiped his eye, he had let a tear drop after letting Bridget, Larry, Samson, Ryan, and Nigel go back to where they belonged.

"I don't think, I know." Akito smirked.

"Alright, then let's get going." Kopa said, getting into Akito's opened arms.

Akito held him securely, then looked to the others. "Be right back..." he said before flying off, out of New York to go straight into the Pridelands.

"Wait for us!" the meerkat triplets appeared then.

Akito was surprised to see them, but smiled, and let them join the ride.


	17. Chapter 17

Simba had distracted himself with the news of his new cub coming into the family tree, he still deeply missed Kopa, but had other things on his mind. He was joining Nala in the den as she was taking a nap. Being pregnant took a lot out of her.

"Sire, Rafiki wishes to speak with you." Zazu said after flying in.

Simba looked over to the blue hornbill. "Thank you, Zazu." he told the bird, more respectfully than he did when he was a cub and left the den.

It was quite the trip from Pride Rock to the tree where Rafiki lived in.

"You wished to speak with me?" Simba asked.

"Yes, Simba, it is about Kopa, he is alive." Rafiki smiled.

"Kopa's alive?" Simba asked in slight surprise, both unbelievable and astonished happiness.

"He is your boy alright," Rafiki chuckled. "He'd led a grand adventure with his new friends and they had to face carnivorous wildebeests that wanted to eat them for their own banquet!"

Simba raised an eyebrow. "Carnivorous wildebeests...?"

"Yes, it was indeed confusing for me as well." Rafiki said.

"Uhh... Right..." Simba shook his head slightly. "Um... So, where is he now?"

"He is up there." Rafiki pointed above the clouds.

Simba looked up too, then glanced at the baboon. "I... Thought you said he was alive?"

"He is alive, it's just that he's getting here by someone flying him and three meerkats over here." Rafiki smiled.

Simba still looked doubtful, but believed it anyway. If Rafiki were just some random mandrill, he would have thought that was insane, but stranger things have happened.

* * *

"Where shall we land?" Akito wondered as he carried the male cub in his arms while the meerkats were on his shoulders and head.

"Rafiki's tree." Kopa told him.

"Okay, um, the tree he lives in is the biggest one, right?" Akito asked.

"That's right." Kopa nodded with an excited smile about seeing his family again.

"Right..." Akito went right that way.

* * *

Rafiki meditated, Simba wanted to go back to Nala, but the baboon told him to stay put as Kopa would be back any moment now. And where he was right, except he didn't count on Akito, Kopa, and the three meerkats crashing in.

"Well, that could have gone better." Kopa groaned.

"Kopa...?" Simba whispered.

"DAD!" Kopa ran to his father and pounced on top of him into a hug.

Simba laughed as he hugged his cub back. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"

"I'm so glad to see you too!" Kopa smiled.

Rafiki smiled fondly to the father and son reunion.

Simba nearly had tears in his eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Rafiki allowed Simba and Kopa to go back to Pride Rock then. "My work here is done." he said, seemingly to no one as he climbed up into his tree.

* * *

Timon hummed as he wandered the Savanna before getting tackled by the three meerkats.

"UNCLE TIMON!"

"H-How did you three get here?" Timon asked with a smile.

"I brought them back here, along with Kopa." Akito said.

"Oh, thank you so much!" Timon hugged the large, compared to him, human boy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"It's no trouble at all," Akito smiled, gratefully. "I'd love to stay a little longer, but I really gotta get back to New York City. Don't worry though, I promise I'll come back and visit another day to stay a little while!" he said before flying out of the Pridelands.

* * *

"So Dad, what's been happening while I've been away?" Kopa asked his father.

"Not the same without you..." Simba said as they were on their way back to Pride Rock. "But... Our family's about to get a little bit bigger..."

"How do you mean?" Kopa asked.

"Well..." Simba smiled slightly. "Kopa, you know how you're the only cub in this pride?"

"Yeah..." Kopa nodded.

"There's going to be another cub for you to play with in a few months." Simba explained.

"Yay!" Kopa cheered.

"Well, we don't know if it's one or two." Rafiki said.

"Oh, right, it might be two..." Simba chuckled.

"I'm gonna be a big brother!" Kopa hopped around in a circle in excitement. "I'm gonna be a big brother! I'm gonna be a big brother!"

"Okay, okay, Kopa how's about we get back to Pride Rock?" Simba suggested.

"Let's do it!" Kopa smiled excitedly.

Simba smiled to him and ran with his son back home.

* * *

Nala kept sleeping until she finally woke up from her nap, she gave a roaring yawn and a stretch, going out to the perch and looked out into the jungle.

"MAMA!" Kopa yelled out as he ran quick as a cheetah back home.

"Kopa...?" Nala asked with a tearful smile.

"I'm back! I'm back!" Kopa smiled.

"Oh, Kopa, I was so worried about you..." Nala hugged her son with one paw.

Kopa smiled, embracing his mother's warmness. Simba smiled as well, this had to be the perfect family moment. The clouds seemed to open up slightly as a golden glow shined down upon them. Nala felt a few kicks, telling her that the cubs she was going to give birth to were possibly happy to know that Kopa was back.

Kopa giggled. "That tickles!"

Nala took a deep breath. "Hoo boy..."

"You okay there?" Simba asked.

"Yes, just kicking, I guess he, she, or they are eager that their big brother is back home." Nala smiled.

"I think you're right, Mom." Kopa smiled.

"Now, let's have some of your favorite dinner." Simba suggested.

"Yeah!" Kopa grinned.

All was well back in Pride Rock. In Heaven, Mufasa, Sarabi, and Galena were smiling fondly that this was a very happy ending.


	18. Chapter 18

Back in New York, the human kids, Pokemon, and house pets were now on their way to the Plaza Hotel, knowing that was where their parents had to be.

"Charlie?" Eloise called to the doorman. "Charlie!"

"Eloise! Kids!" Charlie smiled.

Eloise hugged the doorman with a smile, even though he wasn't, he and the other hotel staff members were like family to her since her mother was rarely around and her father was never there. "I apologize for my premature departure, but I had an adventure with my posee."

"So I see," Charlie chuckled. "You better get in there, they're losing their hair over you kids in there! I knew you were all alright though, just please, if you're gonna leave for a few days, leave a note on the fridge or somethin'!"

"We'll try." The kids, Oliver, Georgette, and the Pokemon said.

Charlie held the door open for them. "Watch your steps!"

* * *

Atticus, Mo, Forte, Winston, and Cherry were in the lobby like they were before. Surprisingly enough, Darla was there too. She cancelled her appointments in Paris to get on a plane to New York to scold the hotel manager even more for letting Eloise get lost.

"Now, Ms. Fudo, I'm sure that we'll find them any minute now." Mr. Salamone smiled nervously.

"Hello." The kids, cat, dog, and Pokemon smiled.

"You better hope so, I know you run a tight shift around here, but I got a brother who could knock you into the next city!" Darla scolded.

"Hi, Mommy." Eloise came to her mother's side.

"One second, Eloise," Darla said sweetly to her daughter before exploding with more rage to the hotel manager. "You better pray that they are alive and not eaten by wild lions, tigers, or bears, and-" she then did a double take. "Oh, my... Eloise!" she then scooped up her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly.

"Where have you kids been?" Cherry asked.

"It's a long story, Aunt Cherry." Akito and Estelle said.

Felicity was still knocked out and appeared to be dead.

"Good heavens!" Mr. Salamone panicked.

"Open her mouth." Cherry knelt to her daughter.

Forte opened their daughter's mouth. Cherry then bit into her wrist and let some of her blackened blood drip onto Felicity's tongue.

"Is she insane?!" Mr. Salamone asked.

Felicity moaned lightly, then suddenly woke up, and her natural skin tone returned. "What happened?"

"Oh, Felicity, thank goodness you're okay!" Estelle hugged her cousin.

"We were really worried we lost you." Akito added.

"What just happened?" Mr. Salamone asked.

"Our daughter almost died and we saved her life..." Cherry droned as she carried Simon in her arms, who in return looked like he wanted to kill Mr. Salamone.

"This has been one exhilarating adventure." Estelle yawned.

"Well, we can't wait to hear all about it, I think you kids need a nice warm bath and a nap." Mo suggested.

"Yeah..." Vincent agreed.

"Do you all have to go home?" Darla asked her fellow adults, having something in mind if they didn't have to leave right away.

"Well, I guess we could stay for a little while." Akito said.

"Something came up while you all were gone, but it can wait until later." Atticus smiled. "Didn't it, Cherry?"

"Yes, Atticus, it certainly did..." Cherry nodded.

"Which means..." Jenny smiled as she was part of this as well.

"SLEEPOVER AT THE PLAZA!" Eloise happily announced.

"Wahoo!" the Pokemon cheered.

"But first... A bath..." Darla said as she held her daughter. "Ugh, Ellie, no offense, but you stink!"

"Well, we haven't had a bath yet." Eloise said.

"Come on then..." Darla giggled, leading everyone to the elevator. "Top floor, please." she told Max as soon as everybody was in the elevator.

Max glanced at her and pushed the sixteenth floor button.

"This is so cool!" Teddy smiled.

Georgette moaned.

"Oh, Georgette, whatever is the problem?" Winston looked at the poodle in concern.

"She's been acting funny all day and night." Jenny told her family butler.

"Hmm... Well, Jennifer, you have fun with your friends, I better take Georgette to the vet," Winston carried the poodle in his arms. "She must've caught a virus or something."

Jenny hugged Georgette with a tear running down her face. "Please, Georgette, be okay!"

"I'm sure it's nothing." Georgette moaned.

"Georgette!" Oliver got worried.

"I'll call you and tell you what the vet says." Winston told Jenny before he left the hotel, carrying the poodle.

Jenny held Oliver in worry as they were both very worried about Georgette and hoped that nothing serious was going to happen to her.

"Hopefully Georgette isn't going to die." Teddy said.

Jenny sniffled about that.

"Oh, sorry, Aunt Jenny..." Teddy cupped his muzzle.

"It's okay, I'm sure she's fine." Estelle hugged her Pokemon so he wouldn't feel bad about his guess.

* * *

As soon as they got out of the elevator, Max sprayed some air freshener and Darla unlocked the door and they all came into the room.

"Oh!" Nanny was surprised to see Darla. "Hello, dear... I didn't know you were still here, what about your meeting with that movie producer?"

"Cancelled, I needed to make sure Eloise was okay," Darla smiled to her old family friend. "Run some bath water, we have some wild children to take care of."

"Of course..." Nanny went into the bathroom.

"It shouldn't take long." Akito said.

Darla sat down on the couch and took a deep breath. "I'm so glad Eloise is okay... I was nearly losing my hair in Paris! Oh, that reminds me..." she then took out a bag from a very expensive shopping mall she visisted and took out a cute fluffy pink beret with a white bow in it. "This is for you, sweetie, it was going to be a Christmas present, but you can have it now."

"Oh, thank you, Mommy, I love it!" Eloise beamed once she took the hat with a smile. "I'll try it on after my bath!"

"That beret totally suits you, Eloise." Vincent smiled.

"Oh, yes, it's absolutely lovely like the girl who will wear it." Darla pinched her daughter's rosy cheek.

Eloise giggled and clapped in excitement, especially since her mother was home.

"I really hope Georgette's okay..." Jenny sounded devastated. "She's family..."

"I hope that she'll be okay too." Oliver said.

"Oh, Oliver..." Jenny hugged her kitten.

Oliver nuzzled against her face. The kids then went to take their baths to get cleaned up after being in the jungle for a rather long time.

"Well, at least we don't have to take a bath." Vulpix smiled.

The Pokemon and Oliver laughed to that, but then the adults smirked to them, which made them stop laughing and then glare to Vulpix who then smiled nervously in return.

* * *

After the baths, the nonhumans were wrapped in towels while the kids wore complimentary robes that the hotel was generous enough to give for them. They were all on the couch while Nanny decided to go out and rent a video for the kids to watch before they would go to bed, she thought it would be good for the parents to reunite with their children since they had been away from each other for so long, so she volunteered herself to go and Bill was on his way up with room service for them.

"No! I'm not getting in the bath! I'm a rock type Pokemon, don't you know what that means?!" Larvitar asked while resisting to get in the bath.

"How do you think I feel?" Oliver huffed. "I'm a cat, we hate water, ugh!"

"Angel was never stubborn about baths..." Mo sighed.

"Wait, Larvitar's right, rock type Pokemon can't take baths since baths have water." Akito said.

"Uh, and I can't either, I'm a rock kitten..." Oliver smiled nervously.

"Nice try." Jenny glanced to her kitten.

"Aww..." Oliver moaned in misfortune.

"Is there a proper way to clean a Pokemon?" Mo asked her children since they knew more about the creatures than anyone else did.

"Well, for rock type Pokemon, I don't know." Akito said.

"Uh, I'll clean myself..." Larvitar suggested.

Atticus and Mo rolled their eyes to that, but allowed it.

The others had their baths and got squeaky clean.

* * *

"So, what did you want to tell us?" Felicity asked the adults.

"We still seem to have some time before Nanny or Bill arrive..." Darla said, noticing they had a large amount of time to reunite and talk about their adventures.

"Well, we pulled some strings..." Forte spoke up. "We know how much you all want to go to Enchancia and see what it's like, so..."

The kids got excited, they felt like they knew where this was going, but urged him to continue.

"We booked reservations to stay in Enchancia for a little while, if you would want to, but we need an answer by next week so we can go!" Mo announced.

"Wahoo!" The kids cheered.

The adults chuckled to this.

"Enchancia?" Eloise and Jenny asked.

"It's a place that is far, far, far away from here." Estelle told them.

"It sounds lovely..." Eloise's eyes sparkled.

"Well... Have fun..." Jenny said as it seemed obvious that she wasn't going to go on this trip.

"Yeah, tell us all about it." Eloise added.

"We will." Akito smiled.

Estelle gave a small frown, but she hugged her cousin and pen pal.

"Am I going to then?" Felicity asked.

"Well, of course you are." Forte smiled to his daughter.

"Hmm..." Felicity cooed.

"I heard Salem's granddaughter lives there with her mother now." Cherry spoke up.

"Cool!" Vincent smiled.


	19. Chapter 19

After a little while longer, Nanny came back with a video just as Bill came with an elegant feast for the children, and of course, coffee, wine, and water for the adults.

"Maman, I feel faint still..." Felicity pouted.

"You're just hungry now," Cherry said to her. "Vampire blood is much stronger than mortal blood, so you won't faint."

Felicity looked over to Eloise's pet turtle and pug dog.

"Don't even think about it!" Eloise hugged Weenie and Skipperdy protectively.

"Well, luckily, there's a feast here." Vulpix smiled.

"Eat up, Fliss." Forte told his daughter.

* * *

The group then happily ate up their food while the adults talked about 'boring stuff' that sounded like tedious gibberish to the kids. Jenny could barely eat, she was just too worried about Georgette. After they ate, they decided to watch the movie that Nanny brought over, but before anything else could happen, the phone rang instantly.

"Hello, it's me, Eloise," the blonde girl answered the phone before anyone else could touch it. "Sure, just one second, please..." she then lowered the phone. "Jenny, it's for you!"

Jenny came over to the phone. "Hello?"

 ** _'Jennifer, I have some rather depressing news, I'm sorry to dump this on you, but the veterinarian says that Georgette needs to stay in for the night,'_ ** Winston told her. **_'I'm so sorry...'_**

"Is she going to be alright?" Jenny asked, worried.

 ** _'The vet says that she appears to be sick, but still needs to be kept in for the night, I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning and we can go see her first thing.'_** Winston said to her.

"Thank you, Winston..." Jenny sighed a little sadly. "I'll see you tomorrow..." she then said before hanging up and put her hand to her eyes and started to cry because she didn't know what was going on with Georgette.

Vincent came to Jenny's side and pulled her into a hug and stroked her red hair to comfort her. Vulpix and Oliver then came over to comfort her. Jenny sniffled and gently stroked the top of their heads. This was going to be a long night for Jenny.

* * *

Not even the movie could distract her, it just made her miserably worried for Georgette. Before bed, she was even praying for Georgette and hoped she would make it through the night in that vet office. Oliver was sleeping soundly, but he decided to go out for the night and tell Dodger and the other dogs, especially Tito. He snuck out of the open window and memorized the way to Fagin's hideout and came in through a secret door as the dogs were getting some sleep and he made a surprise visit.

"I hope this isn't a bad time." Oliver whispered.

Dodger yawned and woke up, seeing the orange kitten. "Kid, what're you doin' here?" he asked groggily. "I know you cats like to be out at night, but I don't think after midnight's a good time to play with the big dogs."

"I'm sorry..." Oliver said softly with tears in his eyes. "It's just... Well..."

Rita came over to the kitten. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" she asked, motherly towards Oliver as always.

"It's Georgette..." Oliver explained sadly. "S-S-She has to stay overnight at the vet's."

"What?! My chica has to stay over night at the vet?!" Tito asked.

"I'm afraid so, Tito..." Oliver replied, he knew of all the dogs, the hyperactive chihuahua be the most devastated.

"What's wrong!?" Tito grew more frantic than usual and even ran around the room crazily. "What happened!? Why wasn't I there!?"

"Maybe if you stop running around the room, Oliver could tell us." Rita said.

Tito then stopped and panted, having worn himself out doing that. "Spill it, man! What's happened to my girl!?"

"We don't know, but she's been acting strange." Oliver explained.

"How so?" Francis asked.

"Well, she's felt really sick to her stomach, even when we were off the boat," Oliver explained. "She's also been cranky, even more than usual, and sometimes, she'd just cry for no reason..."

"Wait, those three symptoms sound familiar to something." Tito said.

"She's dying, isn't she!?" Oliver panicked. "Oh, no, poor Georgette! What will Jenny do without her first pet!? I love her like a sister!"

The dogs laughed to this, not being able to help it.

"This isn't funny, guys!" Oliver glared at them. "Georgette's my family now!"

"No, no, no, young man, it's not that..." Francis chuckled. "Georgette is just fine, she's just... Well... You'll find out..."

"Is she dying?" Oliver asked.

"She's not dying," Dodger chuckled. "We promise, it's even better."

"Really?" Oliver asked. "Well, then what's going to happen to her?"

"You'll see, little guy." Einstein said.

"But!" Oliver cried.

"Now, now, run along home..." Dodger told him to go. "You'll see tomorrow."

Oliver glanced at them, but left anyway to get back to the Plaza Hotel. Tito looked zealous because he now knew what was going on with Georgette.

"How many do you she'll have?" Einstein asked.

Tito just laughed and flopped on the floor with a goofy smile as he seemed to be lost in his own little world.

* * *

Atticus was sound asleep until golden lights shined in his eyes, he squeezed his eyes and rubbed them as he came over to the window and did a double take. "Mufasa...?"

"Atticus, I have a message for you and Cherry," the former lion king replied. "My family has happily reunited with Kopa thanks to your children and his new friends, Samson and Ryan from the Central Park Zoo."

"Oh, well, glad they could help." Atticus smiled.

"I would also like to tell you that my daughter-in-law Nala is pregnant once again," Mufasa told the now adult man. "She is going to be having twins and I would like you and your family to meet the cubs when they are ready to be born."

"We would be honored to meet them." Atticus smiled.

"One of them will be older than the other." Mufasa told him.

"That is how twins work..." Atticus nodded. "Do you know if it'll be boys or girls?"

"I don't know yet, only time will tell." Mufasa said.

"We'll be there, this will be great for Pride Rock." Atticus said.

"You also deserve a right to know this," Mufasa said before going to tell Cherry the news. "The first born will rule the Pridelands and the second born will become the Lion Guard."

"Lion Guard?" Atticus asked. "I never heard of you guys talk about that before."

"It's very hush-hush." Mufasa said.

"So, wait, did your brother used to be the leader of the Lion Guard?" Atticus asked.

"I'm running out of time, I'm going to alert Cherry now, have a good night, Atticus." Mufasa said before he disappeared.

Atticus was very curious now, but allowed Mufasa to go and he lay back down in his side of the bed as Mo slept soundly. "I'll find out later..." he said before going back to sleep.

* * *

Cherry, of course, did not sleep, she was lying down on the room's couch and flipping through the television as Weenie was fast asleep right next to her on another cushion. "He must be having a great dream." she said.

"Cherry..." Mufasa's voice said.

Cherry looked around.

"Cherry..." Mufasa's image came on the television screen.

Cherry's eyes went slightly wide. "Mufasa..." she said in a dry tone however, but was surprised.

"Yes, it's me." Mufasa said.

"Wow, this sure is a surprise." Cherry said.

"I have news for you," Mufasa informed her, telling her just what he told Atticus. "My family has happily reunited with Kopa thanks to your children and his new friends, Samson and Ryan from the Central Park Zoo. I would also like to tell you that my daughter-in-law Nala is pregnant once again. She is going to be having twins and I would like you and your family to meet the cubs when they are ready to be born."

"I didn't know lions could have twins." Cherry said.

"They can just like any other animal." Mufasa said.

"So I see, so boys, girls, boy and girl?" Cherry asked.

"We don't know as of now, but I would like you to be there once Nala births the cubs." Mufasa replied.

Cherry nodded. "Guess we'll visit Pride Rock sometime soon."

"Yes... I must be on my way now..." Mufasa said before disappearing. "Good evening..."

"Good night, Mufasa." Cherry replied as the former lion king went back to his eternal afterlife.

Weenie began to cuddle up close to Cherry while still sleeping. Cherry glanced at the dog, then continued to stare blankly at the television screen until morning.


	20. Chapter 20

The next morning, all was well so far, but Jenny was still mindlessly worried about Georgette. Oliver promised her that everything was fine, but not even he knew what was going on, so he couldn't tell her the reason. And as if on cue the phone rang, causing for Jenny to answer it.

"H-Hello?" she answered the phone.

 ** _'Jennifer, I'm on my way over if you'd like to come to the vet with me.'_ ** Winston told her.

"Could Oliver, Vincent, and Vulpix come too, please?" Jenny requested.

 ** _'Of course they can.'_ ** Winston chuckled.

"Thank you..." Jenny breathed softly.

 **'I'll see you in the lobby then.'** Winston replied.

"See you there..." Jenny hung up and turned to the ones she wanted to come with her to the vet's office. "Winston's here to take me to the vet, could you come with me please?"

"Of course I will." Oliver, Vincent, and Vulpix smiled.

"We'll be right back..." Jenny told the others before leaving with her orange kitten, the boy she liked, and the fire fox Pokemon.

"Take your time, dear." Nanny gave a supportive smile.

"Hey, everyone! I did some research on Georgette's symptoms and where, well, I don't think you'll believe what I found out." Akito said, bringing in a laptop.

"They are already gone." Felicity told her cousin.

Akito saw that Jenny, Oliver, Vulpix, and Vincent left. "Shoot! Well... They'll find out..."

"Find out what, Papa?" Larvitar asked.

"That Georgette is pregnant." Akito said.

The Pokemon looked curious and confused of what pregnant meant.

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile..._**

Jenny sat with Oliver in her lap and she squeezed Winston's hand as she sat next to Vincent who held Vulpix in his arms.

"Don't worry," Vincent said. "I'm sure everything's fine."

"What is taking so long?" Jenny sniffled.

"Jennifer Foxworth?" the vet walked over with a gentle smile.

"How is she?" Jenny instantly sat up and ran over to the animal doctor. "Is she gonna die? Did she eat any chocolate? What's wrong? Tell me!"

"Relax, Jennifer," the vet chuckled. "Georgette is just fine, look at it this way, you can think of yourself as a grandmother."

"Huh?" Jenny looked confused, then had a thought. "Wait, you mean, Georgette is going to have puppies?"

"Yep." The vet nodded.

"So that explains her mood swings and why she continued to feel sick." Vincent said.

"So that's what's up!" Oliver was glad that he knew now too. "Does this mean I'll be an uncle?"

"Kinda." Vincent smiled to the kitten.

"Can I see her?" Jenny pleaded.

"Of course, come right this way." the vet then took them to the room he kept the adult female poodle.

"So how does Georgette get the puppies?" Vulpix asked.

There was a record needle scratched heard from nowhere which made Jenny and Vincent's eyes widen slightly.

"What?" Vulpix asked.

"Uhh..." Jenny blushed.

"Umm..." Vincent stuttered.

* * *

The vet then took them in the room as Georgette was smiling sleepily as she was resting against pillows and had a blanket over her to keep her warm.

"We'll tell you when you're older." Vincent and Jenny said.

"But..." Vulpix said.

"When you're older..." Jenny repeated like a mother.

Vulpix blinked, but then shrugged.

"Georgette, are you okay?" Oliver asked the poodle.

"I'll be okay right now..." Georgette smiled softly.

"That's a relief." Oliver sighed.

Jenny smiled to her poodle. "Wait til I tell Mom and Dad!"

"I'm sure that they'll be ecstatic." Georgette said.

Jenny smiled and hugged her poodle gently.

"She needs to rest right now," the vet told Winston. "Be sure she gets plenty of it and keep her off her feet as much as possible, but she will still need her walks."

Winston took note of that, at least Georgette could come home now.

"I'm just glad that Georgette's alright." Jenny smiled.

"I'm happy for you." Vincent smiled to the red-haired girl, taking her hands gently and spun with her once.

"I'm happy too." Oliver smiled.

* * *

This turned out to be a very pleasant surprise for everyone. Georgette was going to have puppies and Simba and Nala were going to be blessed with twins.

"Well, this adventure sure has been filled with surprises." Atticus said.

"It seems to be that way..." Mo agreed with her husband.

"Yay!" Estelle cheered. "Puppies and lion cubs!"

Teddy cheered and danced with her, just as excited as she was, even if he didn't fully understand.

"Enchancia or Pride Rock, which will come first?" Darla asked her family.

"Probably Enchancia," Mo said. "Lions are only pregnant for about three months."

"You're right, it does probably take that long." Atticus said.

"Are you going back to Europe, Darla?" Cherry asked.

"I think I'll stay here a little longer..." Darla patted Eloise on the head.

"Thank you, Mommy." Eloise smiled.

Darla hugged her daughter with a charming smile. Eloise hugged back, soaking up the hug and she hummed happily in content.

"So what now, Mom and Dad?" Estelle asked.

"Well, I thought we could have lunch together and then head home," Atticus said. "Once we get home and settled back in, we'll get ready to go to Enchancia."

"Yay!" the Fudo twins cheered.

Vincent came back with Vulpix.

"Jenny go home?" Cherry asked.

"Yeah, she wanted to call her parents right away and tell them the news." Vincent said with an overjoyed smile.

"Well, why shouldn't she be overjoyed with Georgette about to have puppies?" Vulpix smiled.

"This is so absolutely exciting and positively lovely!" Eloise did one of her infamous twirls in happiness.

"You all knew, didn't you?" Vincent said with a knowing smile.

"I told them, I did some research on Dad's laptop." Akito smirked.

"That makes sense." Vincent said.

* * *

They had a little while until lunch and they would leave, so Eloise took her cousins and friends along to play some pranks around the hotel like she always did in her free time.

"So what first?" Estelle asked.

"Ding-Dong Ditch." Eloise giggled.

Felicity looked curious.

"You ring a doorbell and run away before someone answers the door." Eloise explained.

"Sounds like fun." Felicity smiled.

"Do you just play pranks all day here?" Vincent asked.

"Mr. Salamone calls me a nuisance whenever Mommy's not around." Eloise smiled with shifty eyes.

"So then he doesn't get in trouble with Aunt Darla, right?" Estelle smiled.

"That was always my theory..." Eloise folded her arms smugly. "I wonder what they're gonna talk about until lunch in his office..."

* * *

The other employees were working at their jobs as the front desk was left with Maxine in charge of it until Mr. Salamone would come back, he kept begging for Darla's forgiveness and assuring him it wasn't his fault that Eloise ended up lost in the jungle for a rather long time with no adult supervision.

 _'I seriously hate working for this man.'_ Maxine thought to herself.

"I'm glad we reached an understanding, Ms. Fudo..." Mr. Salamone grinned nervously as he stepped out of his office, though Darla still looked very outraged and angered with him. "Oh, did I mention that you look at least ten years younger? Oh, I don't know what they're doing to you in Paris, but they should keep up the good work!"

"Stop trying to butter me up." Darla narrowed her eyes.

Maxine hid giggles at Darla bossing her superior around.

Darla came to the elevator to take her inside. "Top floor, please..." she rubbed her temples slightly.

Max nodded to her and pushed the sixteenth floor button.

"Did I go overboard?" Mr. Salamone asked Maxine.

"Did you mention a possible liposuction or Botox?" Maxine asked.

"Yes..." Mr. Salamone replied.

"Maybe just a bit much..." Maxine pinched her fingertips together.

"I've got to lower it down a bit." Mr. Salamone said.

"This hotel, I tell ya..." Darla held her head once she came out of the elevator and went into the room Eloise and Nanny stayed in.

* * *

"Hello, dear, how was your time with Mr. Salamone?" Nanny asked.

"Don't get me started..." Darla flopped down next to Nanny who was like family to her ever since her early childhood. "I think I need a vacation from traveling in Europe, I'm getting Eloise out of here one way or another, someday... Oh, speaking of which, where is she?"

"She took her cousins out to explore the hotel, though I feel like there's going to be some chaos." Cherry chuckled darkly.

"Oh, no..." Nanny groaned.

"What am I going to do with that girl...?" Darla leaned back on the couch, holding her head again.

"Be there for her more..." Cherry muttered before she sipped her hot chocolate.

"She'll be there for her daughter more often from now on." Atticus said.

"Believe me, I will..." Darla rubbed her eyes wearily. "Eloise already spent her whole life not knowing who her father was... LB Mammoth adopted me and treated me more like one of his clients than be a father to me and let me roam around Hollywood while everything would be brought to me on a silver platter. I'm sure in a year or so, she'll have a much easier life..."

Bill came with their lunch which had Nanny call the front desk and have the children and Pokemon be brought back up to the room so they could eat and then go back home to get ready for their visit to Enchancia.

"Ooh, lunch." Weenie smiled.

Larvitar, Teddy, Vulpix, and Misdreavus ran into the room with their trainers.

"Yay, lunch!" the kids cheered.

"Charge it, please." Eloise told Bill.

"Of course, madame." Bill bowed to the blonde girl in a posh accent with a chuckle.

"Still a great actor." Akito smiled.

"Is he really an actor?" Vincent asked.

"He acts on his off time and he's looking for theater work, if he can find a successful position, he'll stop working here." Eloise said, pouting at the last part.

"Oh, my..." Vincent frowned.

"I'll be happy for him, but... I'll just miss him..." Eloise folded her arms sadly.

"Don't worry about that for now," Estelle soothed. "Just be thankful of what you have... Now, let's eat!"

"Yeah!" the Pokemon cheered.

Eloise gave a small smile and ate her lunch with her cousins and where the food tasted delicious.

* * *

After lunch, it was time for everyone to go their separate ways.

"See you in Enchancia..." Cherry said as she carried Simon in his arms as he finally fell asleep.

"See ya in Enchancia." Atticus smiled.

Cherry, Forte, Simon, and Felicity left in their horse-carriage ride.

Akito, Estelle, and Vincent got in the backseat and buckled themselves up.

"This next adventure is going to be so exciting." Larvitar smiled.

"You guys deserve a nice long rest." Vincent said.

The three Fudo siblings took out their Pokeballs and let their Pokemon go into them to rest up after the adventure they all had.

"Once we get home, I'm going to be starting my packing for the trip to Enchancia." Akito said.

"Save your energy, it's a long way, but I think you should all go to bed early tonight." Mo advised.

The kids pouted about going to bed early, but they had to admit that their mother had a point.

"Okay, Mom." the Fudo siblings said in unison.

"I know you're excited, but trust me, you'll understand these things when you're older," Mo smiled. "My mother always told Junior that when he was growing up."

"Awww!" Estelle awed.

* * *

Mo giggled, then put on some music the kids liked for the ride, but once they would get tired out on the way home, she would change to a station that she and Atticus liked. And where they would listen to it the entire way back to their house.

"Guess our jams will have to wait..." Mo said as she leaned against her husband's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I don't mind the classics, nostalgia for us and culture for the kids." Atticus chuckled, holding his free arm around her as his other hand was holding the wheel.

"Agreed." Mo smiled.

"Dad, I always wondered..." Akito spoke up as a song about friendship played on the radio. "How is Aunt Cherry related to us?"

"I always wondered about that too." Estelle said.

"It's a very long story, but Cherry is from your mother's adoptive family and I knew Cherry all my life, so we consider each other more as siblings just as well as best friends." Atticus explained.

"Oh." the Fudo siblings understood now and smiled to that as the song played in the background as he drove them home. They had a long way to go and they were having a really great day as they came to the exit lane from New York, ending this adventure, but starting a new one.

The End


End file.
